LIFE  OF 


Joseph  Green  Cogswell 


AS    SKETCHED    IN 


HIS    LETTERS 


PRIVATELY    PRINTED 

AT    THE 

RIVERSIDE  PRESS,  CAMBRIDGE 
1874 


4fc 


Entered,  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S74,  by 

Anna  E.  Ticknor, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


FOR  PRIl'A  TE  DISTRIBUTION. 


THE  work  of  arranging  the  contents  of  this  volume 
has  been  made  pleasant,  through  association  with 
the  generous  affection  preserved  by  the  pupils  of  the 
Round  Hill  School  for  their  teacher,  and  with  the  life- 
long friendship  between  my  father  and  Mr.  Cogswell, 
constantly  apparent  in  these  pages.  The  kindness 
with  which  letters  have  been  supplied,  and  the  interest 
expressed  by  all  who  have  been  concerned  in  the  plan 
for  printing  them,  have  proved  the  fidelity  of  the  feeling 
cherished  for  their  writer,  and  lightened  the  task  of  pre- 
paring them  for  the  press. 

ANNA   ELIOT  TICKNOR. 

Park  Street,  Boston. 
April,    1874. 


M206444 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth  and  Parentage.  —  School  and  College  Days.  —  Voyage  to 
India. —  Law  Studies.  — Voyage  to  the  Mediterranean.  —  1786- 
1811 1 

CHAPTER  II. 
Marriage.  —  Life  in  Belfast.  —  Death  of  his  Wife. —  1811-1813  .     12 

CHAPTER  III. 
Latin  Tutor  at  Harvard  College,  1813-1815.  —  Botany         .         .     28 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Second  Trip  to  the  Mediterranean.  —  Life  in  Marseilles,  1815-16     37 

CHAPTER  V. 

Third  Voyage  to  Europe.  — Tutor  to  Mr.  A.  Thorndike.  — Win- 
ter in  Gottingen.  —  Excursion  to  Weimar,  Dresden,  and  Ber- 
lin.—  Interview  with  Goethe.  —  1816-17.         ...  48 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Gottingen,  Summer  of  1817.  —  Trip  to  Hamburg.  —  Excursion  to 
Harz  Mountains.  —  Mineralogy. —  Studies  in  the  Library  of 
the  University 60 


vin  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Italy.  1S17-181S 68 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Summer  of  18 18.  —  Switzerland.  —  Fellenberg's  School  at  Hofwyl     79 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Edinburgh.  —  Winter  of  1818-1819.  —  Southey. — Walter  Scott. 
—  Mrs.  Grant  of  Laggan.  —  Jardine 89 

CHAPTER  X. 

Dresden. —  Summer  of  18 19. —  Carlsbad.  —  Toplitz. —  Second 
and  Third  Visits  to  Goethe.  —  Letter  from  Goethe. — Grand 
Duke  of  Weimar        .........     97 

CHAPTER  XL 

Munich.  —  King  of  Bavaria.  —  Switzerland.  —  Pestalozzi.  — 
Tours        ...........  109 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Paris.  —  Edinburgh.  —  Excursions  in  England  and  Scotland.  — 
Returns  to  America,  October,  1820 118 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Uncertain  Plans.  —  Journey  to  Washington. — Becomes    Libra- 
rian and  Professor  of  Mineralogy  and  Chemistry  at  Harvard 
College.  —  Visit  to  Portland.  —  Journey  to  Niagara.  —  Project 
for  a  School 128 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

1823-24.  —  Mr.  Bancroft  and  Mr.  Cogswell  establish  a  School  at 
Round  Hill,  Northampton,  Massachusetts. —  Novelties  in  Plan 
and  Discipline. —  Physical  Training.  —  Success  of  the  First 
Year 138 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER    XV. 

1824-28.  —  Difficulties  about  Purchasing  the  Round  Hill  Estate. 

—  Passing  Plan  of  going  to  the  North  River.  —  Continued  Suc- 
cess.—  Enlargement  of  Buildings.  —  Increase  of  Numbers        .  152 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

1829.  —  Act  of  Incorporation  for  Round  Hill.  —  Mr.  Cogswell, 
becomes  Sole  Head  of  the  School.  —  Washington  in  1830. — 
Savannah.  —  Death  of  Miss  Elizabeth  Cogswell       .        .        .  163 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

1832-1833.  —  Thoughts  of  giving  up  the  School.  —  Visit  to 
Charleston. —  Decision  to  leave  Round  Hill  and  to  take  charge 
of  a  School  in  Raleigh,  N.  C 174 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
1834-35.  —  Life  in  Raleigh 186 

CHAPTER   XIX. 
1S35-37.  —  Last  Year  in  Raleigh.  —  Fourth  Time  to  Europe       .   199 

CHAPTER   XX. 

Life  in  New  York.—  Home  with  Air.  S.  Ward,  1837-1840.  —  Ac- 
quaintance with  Mr.  Astor.  —  Plan  for  a  Great  Public  Library. 

—  First  Purchase  of  Books.  —  Fifth  Time  to  Europe.  —  Death 
of  Mr.  Ward.  —  Goes  to  live  in  a  House  belonging  to  Mr. 
Astor,  and  prepares  Preliminary  Catalogues      .         .         .         .212 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

1842-1848. —  Appointed  and  confirmed  Secretary  of  Legation  to 
Spain. —  Relinquishes  the  Post  for  the  Sake  of  the  Library. — 
Life  with  Mr.  Astor  till  his  Death  in   1848.  —  Appointed  Su- 
perintendent of  the  Astor  Library,  May,  1848  ....  227 
b 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

1848,  1849.  —  Sixth  Trip  to  Europe.  —  Purchase  of  Books  for  the 
Astor  Library 241 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

1850-1853.  —  Seventh  Trip  to  Europe. —  Rome,  Stockholm,  and 
Copenhagen. — Eighth  Trip  to  Europe 253 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

1854-1856.  —  Life  and  Labors  in  the  Astor  Library.  —  Occa- 
sional Trips  to  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Boston  .         .         .  264 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

1857-1860. —  Extravagant  Labors  on  Catalogue.  —  Visit  to  Port- 
land for  Rest.  —  New  Building  added  to  the  Astor  Library  by 
Mr.  W.  B.  Astor.  —  Trip  to  Charleston.  —  Ninth  Visit  to  Eu- 
rope  274 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

1861-1864. —  Resigns  the  Office  of  Superintendent  of  the  Astor 
Library.  —  Undertakes  the  Preparation  of  a  Supplementary 
Volume  of  Astor  Library  Catalogue.  —  Builds  a  House  in 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  and  removes  there  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Has- 
kins,  in  May,  1864.  —  Visits  to  Friends. — In  New  York  dur- 
ing the  Riots  in  July,  1863. —  Round  Hill  Celebration,  De- 
cember, 1864 286 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
1864-1867.  —  Finishes    Supplementary   Catalogue.  —  Visits    in 
New  York,  and  Bordenlown,  and  on  the  Hudson      .         .         .  305 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

1867-1869.  —  Continued  Activity.  —  Home  in  Cambridge.  — 
Visits  at  Bordentown  and  Philadelphia,  New  York,  North 
River,  and  Duanesburg 316 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


1869-1870.  —  Closing  Years.  —  Tranquillity  of  Mind.  —  Con- 
tinued Activity,  Physical  and  Mental.  —  Power  of  Labor  .  327 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

1871.  —  The  Last  Year. — Visits  New  York  and  works  for  the 
Astor  Library. —  Newport  and  Nahant.  —  Conclusion.  —  Trib- 
utes and  Memorials.  —  Meeting  of  Round  Hill  Pupils.  — 
Monument  placed  by  them  over  the  Grave  at  Ipswich,  and  Bust 
given  by  them  to  Harvard  College 337 

APPENDIX. 

A.  —  Extracts  from  Prospectus  of  Round  Hill  School .         .         .  349 

B.  —  List  of  Pupils  at  Round  Hill    ......       353 

C.  —  Mr.  Cogswell's  Address   at   the  Round    Hill    Celebration, 

1864 359 

D.  —  Resolutions   on    Mr.   Cogswell's    Resignation    and   on   his 

Death,  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library  .         .       363 

E.  —  In  Memoriam,  by  C.  T.  B 364 


JOSEPH   GREEN  COGSWELL. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Birth  and  Parentage.  —  School  and  College  Days.  —  Voyage  to  India. 
—  Law  Studies.  — Voyage  to  the  Mediterranean. —  1786-1811. 

PHE  legacy  of  affection  and  the  recognized  ties  of 
intellectual  association  left  behind  by  Mr.  Cogs- 
well, have  caused  a  wish  to  arise  among  his  friends,  that 
the  incidents  of  his  pure  and  faithful  life  should  be  re- 
corded more  permanently  than  they  have  yet  been.  The 
question  has  been  how  such  a  sketch  could  be  made 
most  attractive  as  well  as  accurate  ;  and  as  the  best  means 
to  this  end,  the  story  is  given  in  the  following  pages 
almost  entirely  in  his  own  words.  Although  he  was  not 
a  man  to  persevere  in  keeping  a  diary,  yet  his  wandering 
life,  and  his  steady  affections  together,  made  him  a  letter- 
writer.  From  a  great  number  of  his  letters,  preserved 
by  affectionate  friends,  it  has  been  easy  to  make  extracts, 
consecutive  enough  to  form  a  narrative,  and  ample  to 
suggest  his  characteristic  qualities,  with  the  growth  of 
those  tastes  and  habits  which  controlled  the  choice  of 
his  occupations,  through  all  his  varied  career. 

A  slight  outline  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  will  suffice 


2  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1786-1801. 

as  introduction  to  the  more  interesting  materials  taken 
from  his  correspondence. 

Joseph  Green  Cogswell  was  born  in  Ipswich,  Essex 
County,  Massachusetts,  on  the  27th  of  September, 
1786.1  His  father,  Francis  Cogswell,  and  his  mother, 
Anstis  Manning,  had  one  other  son  and  five  daughters ; 
but  all  of  these,  except  one,  died  in  early  life,  and,  at 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  Mrs.  Cogswell,  with  her 
daughter  Elizabeth  and  her  son  Joseph,  alone  remained 
of  the  family. 

At  three  years  of  age  the  boy,  with  whose  later  expe- 
riences we  are  concerned,  was  sent  with  the  other  chil- 
dren of  the  town,  to  the  public  school ;  and  he  continued 
to  pursue  his  daily  tasks  there,  and  at  a  grammar-school 
for  classical  instruction,  —  founded  in  Ipswich  about 
1650,  with  trustees  called  to  this  day  Feoffees,  —  during 
the  greater  part  of  every  year,  until  he  was  fourteen.  In 
October,  1800,  he  was  sent  to  Atkinson,  a  town  in  New 
Hampshire,  but  not  far  from  his  home,  where  he  re- 
mained at  school  for  about  three  months,  and  from  there 
was  transferred  to  Phillips  Academy,  at  Exeter,  in 
January,  1801. 

1  His  ancestors  are  traced  back  to  herited  considerable  property  from  his 
Legh,  in  the  parish  of  Westbury,  Wilt-  father  twenty  years  before.  This  John 
shire,  England.  John  Cogswell,  the  son  Cogswell  died  in  1669,  and  from  him  the 
of  a  well-to-do  clothier  of  that  place,  father  of  Joseph  Green  Cogswell  was  de- 
came  in  1635,  on  board  the  Angel  Gabriel,  scended.  Francis,  the  husband  of  Anstis 
from  Bristol,  England  ;  was  wrecked  at  Manning  and  father  of  Joseph  Green, 
Pemaquid  (now  Bristol,  Maine),  on  Au-  left  a  will,  which  was  entered  for  probate 
gust  15  of  that  year,  and  in  October  of  November  5,  1793  ;  and  on  the  2d  De- 
the  same  year,  is  recorded  as  possessing  cember  of  the  same  year,  an  inventory  of 
three  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Ipswich,  his  property  was  entered.  This  mentions 
New  England  ;  and  it  is  stated  that  he  real  estate  to  the  value  of  ,£897,  and  per- 
erected  the  third  house  in  that  place,  sonal  property,  including  furniture  and 
He  brought  with  him,  besides  wife  and  clothing,  to  the  amount  of  ,£428. 
children,  a  man-servant,  and  he  had  in- 


Age  i  to  15.]  HAIRBREADTH  ESCAPES.  3 

In  his  old  age  he  wrote  down,  to  please  a  friend,  some 
anecdotes  of  what  he  called  the  hairbreadth  escapes 
of  his  life;  and  among  these  are  a  few  incidents  of  his 
boyhood,  which  show  the  nature  of  the  boy  and  of  his 
amusements.  According  to  the  first  of  these  little  nar- 
ratives, on  a  certain  day,  when  he  was  not  quite  four 
years  old,  the  frame  of  a  new  house  having  been  raised 
for  his  father,  and  the  workmen  having  gone  to  make 
merry  at  the  "  raising,"  he  climbed  up  a  ladder,  which 
rested  against  the  eaves,  and  thence,  along  the  rafters,  to 
the  ridge  pole,  on  which  he  stood  up,  and  cried  out,  "  See 
me."  The  shout  gave  an  alarm,  and  brought  some,  who 
heard  it,  to  the  rescue. 

The  spring  and  summer  of  his  ninth  year  were,  he 
says,  memorable  in  his  history.  When  the  ice  was 
breaking  up,  at  the  end  of  the  winter,  he  took  his  skates 
and  his  bat  one  day,  uncertain  which  he  should  use,  and 
going  with  both  in  his  hands,  to  the  river  side,  he  leaned 
over  from  a  wharf,  to  try  the  strength  of  the  ice  with  his 
bat.  The  ice  gave  way,  and  he  plunged  head  foremost 
into  the  river.  The  current  was  strong,  and  swept  him 
twice  under  the  ice,  which  was  too  rotten  to  bear  up ; 
until  his  head  broke  through  a  third  time,  when  he  was 
taken  out  by  some  bystanders,  apparently  lifeless,  and 
carried  home  to  be  revived. 

A  few  weeks  later,  when  the  time  came  for  bath- 
ing in  the  river,  a  party  of  boys,  who  supposed  them- 
selves to  be  expert  swimmers,  undertook  to  swim  across 
a  cove  half  a  mile  wide.  u  On  their  way  back,"  to  quote 
his  own  words,  "  one  of  the  number  was  seized  with 
cramp,  and  had  to  be  supported  on  the  shoulders  of  the 


4  yOSETII  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1801-1806. 

leader  of  the  expedition."  This  leader  was,  no  doubt, 
young  Joe  Cogswell,  who  had  a  narrow  escape  this  time, 
for  he  adds,  "  although  cautioned  not  to  cling  and  con- 
fine the  arms  of  his  supporter,  fear  made  him  neglect  the 
caution,  and  he  clung  so  close  that  both  must  have  sunk, 
had  not  a  boat  put  out  to  save  them." 

Mr.  Cogswell's  early  home  inspired  him  with  a  life-long 
attachment,  and  his  pride  was  great  in  the  character  of 
his  native  county.  Ipswich  is,  indeed,  a  pleasant  town, 
founded  early  among  the  pilgrim  settlements  on  the 
New  England  shores,  and  fostering  its  inherited  love  of 
education  and  thrift.  Of  the  natural  attractions  of  its 
neighborhood,  Mr.  Cogswell  wrote  thus,  from  Edinburgh, 
to  his  sister,  in  181 9 :  "I  have  often  thought  since  I  was 
in  Switzerland,  and  in  the  Highlands  amid  the  water 
scenery,  that  our  own  Wenham  Pond,  had  it  been  in 
Europe  and  been  called,  as  it  certainly  would,  by  some 
pretty  and  romantic  name,  would  have  been  resorted  to, 
as  such  spots  are  here,  for  there  are  many  points  upon 
it  which  are  highly  picturesque  and  charming.  I  call  to 
mind,  too,  with  equal  satisfaction  our  Agawam  River.1 
How  very  prettily  fringed  with  wood  are  its  banks  above 
the  dam.  Had  we  but  a  relish  for  nature  we  should 
never  look  so  indifferently  upon  the  thousand  beauties 
which  surround  our  native  village."  In  his  advanced 
years  he  used  to  go  over,  with  natural  pride,  the  long 
list  of  names  of  the  men  of  Essex  County  who  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  the  political  and  professional 
life  of  our  country  and  in  its  literature,  and  said  that  no 

1  Agawam   was   the    Indian   name   of    which  flows  through  the  town,  commonly 
Ipswich,  and  he  probably  means  the  river     called  Ipswich  River. 


Age  i5  to  2o]  AT  HARVARD  COLLEGE.  5 

other  county  in  our  land  had  given  birth  to  so  many 
literary  people.1 

At  Phillips  Academy,  Exeter,  he  was  fitted  for  college, 
and  it  is  some  proof  that  he  had  well  used  his  opportu- 
nities of  education,  that  he  was  ready  to  enter  at  the  age 
of  sixteen,  after  being  at  Exeter  a  year  and  a  half.  Dur- 
ing those  eighteen  months  his  acquaintance  with  one  of 
the  best  families  in  New  Hampshire,  that  of  Governor 
Gilman,  ripened  into  a  lasting  intimacy,  which  led,  a  few 
years  later,  to  the  forming  of  the  closest  ties  between 
them. 

From  1802  to  1806  young  Cogswell  was  a  member  of 
Harvard  College,  and,  like  other  young  men  of  studious 
habits  and  small  means,  he  employed  his  vacations  in 
keeping  school. 

His  college  life  is  not  without  its  record  of  hairbreadth 
escapes,  for,  both  in  his  Sophomore  and  Senior  years, 
he  had  adventures  of  which  he  enjoyed  the  recollection. 
The  first  was  in  a  fight,  on  the  day  of  the  Annual  Elec- 
tion, between  the  Menotomites  (West  Cambridge  folk) 
and  the  students,  —  the  regular  "Town  and  Gown" 
feud  —  which,  on  this  occasion,  proceeded  to  great 
violence.  Cogswell  was  the  greatest  sufferer  of  his  party, 
for  he  was  knocked  down  by  a  Menotomite  butcher,  and 
fell  under  the  heels  of  a  frightened  horse,  but  he  was 
quickly  drawn  out  by  his  fellow  students. 

When  a  Senior  he  returned,  during  the  winter  vaca- 
tion, to  Cambridge,  to  fetch  a  book  from  his  study  in  the 
fourth  story  of  Hollis.     He  found  his  own  door  locked, 

1  This  statement,  as  made  by  Mr.  Cogs-     written  by  Mr.  James  Grant  Wilson  for 
well,  is  mentioned   in  a   notice  of  him,     Applctoifs  Magazine,  Jan.  6,  1S72. 


6  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1806-1809. 

but  that  of  his  chum  was  open,  and  he  undertook  to 
accomplish  his  object  by  getting  out  through  his  chum's 
study  window,  and  reaching  his  own  by  the  outside  of 
the  building.  This  he  did  by  keeping  his  toes  on  a 
band  which  projects  about  an  inch,  and  marks  the  divis- 
ion between  the  stories,  and  holding  on  by  the  gutters 
or  drops  below  the  architrave.  Just  before  he  reached 
his  own  window  one  of  the  drops  came  off,  and  he  must 
have  fallen,  had  not  the  hand  which  lost  its  hold  been 
able  to  seize  the  window  frame.  He  used  to  add  that 
"  Goody  Morse,"  who  was  passing  through  the  college 
yard  and  witnessed  this  performance,  fainted  at  the  sight. 

His  after  life  bore  testimony  to  the  good  use  he  made 
of  such  advantages  as  Harvard  could  then  offer  to  her 
students,  and  he  loved  his  Alma  Mater,  and  was  glad  to 
serve  her  with  the  acquisitions  and  the  developed  powers 
of  his  riper  years.  At  first,  however,  other  desires  —  the 
wish  to  see  the  world,  and  the  wish  to  lay  some  founda- 
tion for  at  least  a  modest  fortune,  and  a  home  to  be 
shared  with  one  who  already  filled  his  thoughts,  —  these 
turned  him  for  a  time  to  quite  a  different  pursuit. 

His  eager  longing  to  go  to  Europe  could  not  be  grat- 
ified ;  but,  immediately  after  leaving  college,  he  made  a 
voyage  to  India,  going  as  supercargo  in  a  merchant  ves- 
sel. Of  this  expedition  scarcely  a  mention  is  to  be  found 
in  any  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  letters.  Allowing  for  the  tedi- 
ousness  of  an  East  India  voyage  as  it  was  then,  his  stay 
in  Calcutta  could  not  have  been  long;  since  he  sailed 
for  India  in  June,  1806,  and  in  July,  1807,  was  not  only 
again  at  home,  but  a  student  of  law  under  the  instruction 
of  Hon.  Fisher  Ames  at  Dedham. 


Age  20  to  23.]    VOYAGE  TO  THE  MEDITERRANEAN.  7 

Having  returned  to  professional  studies,  more  in  har- 
mony with  his  previous  life  at  school  and  college,  he 
continued  them  for  two  years ;  but  from  November, 
1808,  to  June,  1809,  after  the  death  of  the  famous 
Fisher  Ames,  he  studied  in  Boston,  with  the  scarcely 
less  distinguished  Judge  Prescott,  father  of  the  histo- 
rian. 

Professional  studies  were  slow  and  the  prospect  of 
success  was  distant.  The  impatience  of  youth  required 
to  be  quieted  by  another  effort  in  some  more  lucrative 
direction  ;  therefore  in  1809,  the  young  law-student  again 
cast  himself  for  awhile  into  the  excitements  of  a  mercan- 
tile voyage.  He  went  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  as  this 
was  the  period  of  the  naval  wars  of  Napoleon  and  the 
English,  he  found  himself  involved  in  strange  perplex- 
ities. His  first  port  was  Algiers,1  and  from  there  he 
wrote,  in  August,  a  letter  to  the  youngest  Miss  Gilman, 
having  already,  as  it  may  seem  from  some  expressions  in 
it,  written  from  Gibraltar  to  her  eldest  sister  Mary. 

Algiers,  August  i,  1809.*  I  dare  not  write  quite  so 
often  to  you,  my  beloved  E.,  as  to  another  certain  friend 
of  ours,  lest  it  should  create  a  little  jealousy,  and  there- 
fore you  had  no  letter  in  the  packet  I  despatched  from 
Gibraltar.  ...  If  novelty  of  itself  could  confer  pleasure, 
it  would  not  be  wanting  to  a  stranger  in  this  place ;  but 
mere  diversity  of  incident  or  variety  of  scenes  are  hardly 
sufficient  even  to  stifle  the  sigh,  which  every  man  of  feel- 

*  To  Miss  E.  T.  Gilman. 


1  In    consequence   of  this  voyage  to  Algiers,  he   received,  from  Mrs.  Prescott, 
the  nickname  of  "  the  Dey." 


8  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['809. 

ing  must  heave,  at  beholding  human  nature  in  so  de- 
graded and  debased  a  state  as  is  here  everywhere  pre- 
sented. A  finer  country,  or  richer  soil,  can  scarce  be 
found  in  the  world  than  most  parts  of  the  Regency  of 
Algiers,  but  like  its  inhabitants,  it  is  without  cultivation 
or  improvement;  the  fruitful  valleys  yield  what  nature 
spontaneously  produces,  —  on  its  hills  and  mountains 
lions  and  tigers  prowl  for  their  prey.  Though  you  did 
not  ask  or  permit  me  to  write  you,  when  I  parted  from 
you  on  Sabbath  evening,  the  23d  of  April,  I  believe  you 
will  pardon  my  forwardness  in  doing  it,  as  you  undoubt- 
edly know  the   sincerity  of  my  affection  is   the  motive 

which    prompted    me During  the  whole  of  the 

winter  I  fear  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  be  in  France 
or  Italy 

His  untoward  experiences  are  set  forth  in  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  letter,  written  by  one  of  his  young 
friends  to  another,  evidently  after  a  period  of  some  anx- 
iety as  to  his  safety. 

G.    TICKNOR    TO    CHARLES    S.    DAVEIS. 

Boston,  October  19,  1809. 
....  Jo.  Cogswell  has  been  heard  from.  He  was  at 
Marseilles.  After  going  to  Algiers  he  sold  his  vessel 
and  cargo  ;  and  as  she  was  sent  by  the  purchaser  for  Mar- 
seilles, and  as  he  was  compelled  to  go  there  to  negotiate 
his  bills,  he  took  passage  in  her,  but  was  captured  :  and 

1  This   experience  was,   probably,  the  tion  to  the  brig    Radius,    burden  2io$-| 

cause   of   his   procuring   a   safe-conduct  tons,  Benjamin  Lander,   master,  cleared 

from  the  British  government,  which  was  from  Gallipoli,  August  19,  1S10. 
found  among  his  papers,  giving  protec- 


Age23.]  ATTACKED  BY  BRIGANDS.  9 

carried  to  Gibraltar,  where  the  ship  was  condemned  ;  and 
he  returned  to  Algiers,  and  finally  succeeded  in  getting 
from  there  to  Marseilles.  During  all  this  variety  of 
calamity,  C.'s  person  was  not  held  in  durance  nor  his 
property  distrained. 

We  next  hear  of  him  by  a  letter  dated,  — 

Naples,  November  1 1,  1809.*  You  have  been  constant- 
ly in  my  thoughts  since  I  parted  from  you  ;  and  particu- 
larly in  my  tour  from  France  to  Italy,  I  often  wished 
you  to  have  been  with  me,  when  I  saw  a  painting  re- 
markably fine,  that  you  might  have  pointed  out  to  me 
its  peculiar  excellences ;  or  a  landscape  uncommonly 
beautiful,  that  you  might  have  sketched  it  with  your 
pencil If  the  people  of  modern  Italy  are  really  de- 
scendants of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  country,  they 
have  suffered  a  wonderful  degeneracy.  .  .  .  There  is  not 
an  Italian  artist  either  in  painting  or  sculpture  that  de- 
serves to  be  named.  Their  statues  have  no  more  life 
than  the  unhewn  marble,  and  their  paintings  neither 
taste,  nor  elegance,  nor  nature. 

Adventures  were  more  in  the  order  of  the  day  then 
than  now ;  and  a  short  time  only  had  passed  after  his 
capture  by  sea,  before  he  was  captured  on  land  in  a 
still  more  lawless  manner.  On  his  way  from  Florence 
to  Rome  with  the  Malle-courier,  he  was  attacked  by  a 
gang  of  four  brigands,  compelled  to  leave  his  carriage, 
marched  backward   into  a  wood,  ordered  to   lie  down 

*  To  Miss  E.  T.  Gilman. 


IO  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1810. 

upon  the  ground,  and  spared  being  shot  only  on  con- 
vincing the  brigands  he  was  an  American,  and  not  a 
Frenchman  as  they  supposed.  After  robbing  him  of 
everything  except  the  clothes  he  wore,  the  brigands  left 
with  their  plunder.  At  San  Quirico,  the  next  munici- 
pality, a  proces  verbal  was  made  before  a  magistrate, 
which  led  to  the  capture  and  execution  of  the  brigands. 

Another  moment  of  anxiety  came  for  his  friends  at 
home,  and  another  friend,  young  Haven,  of  Portsmouth, 
wrote  as  follows  to  Mary  Gilman,  inclosing  a  letter 
which  had,  apparently,  been  opened  and  examined. 

N.    A.    HAVEN    TO    MISS    MARY    F.    GILMAN. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  July  31,  18 10. 
My  dear  Mary,  —  The  brig  Caroline,  the  vessel 
which  brought  the  inclosed,  was  captured  on  her  passage, 
and  all  her  letters  were  opened.  Yours,  though  deserv- 
ing a  better  fate,  did  not  escape  the  general  search.  It 
came  to  my  hands  this  evening,  in  the  same  dishonor- 
able state  as  it  is  now  presented  to  you.  I  received  a 
letter  myself  which  I  shall  send  you  by  the  first  safe  con- 
veyance  I    send  you  an  extract,  lest  your  letter 

should  not  contain  the  information  you  wish  :  "  I  had 
completed  my  business  in  France,  and  came  to  Naples 
with  an  expectation  of  taking  passage  for  America,  when 
the  measure  adopted  by  the  government  here  entirely 
frustrated  my  plans  :  this  measure  was  no  less  than  a 
general  confiscation  of  all  the  vessels  and  cargoes  in  this 
port.     Mr.  Gray *  has  two  vessels  here  which  have  shared 

1  Mr.   William  Gray,   a   merchant   of    made,  and  with  whom  and  his  family  Mr. 
Boston,  in  whose  service  this  voyage  was     Cogswell  was  much  connected  later. 


Age  24.]  RETURN  TO  AMERICA.  1 1 

the  fate  of  all  the  others,  and  one  which  came  in  ballast 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  return  cargo,  upon  which  no 
decision  has  been  made.  In  this  last  I  had  calculated 
upon  returning,  and  still  hope  she  will  be  liberated."  .  .  . 

On  the  19th  of  November,  18 10,  Cogswell  writes  to 
Elizabeth  Gilman,  being  then  "At  Sea,  near  Malaga  "  :  — 
"  I  go  now  to  England  after  stopping  a  short  time  at 
Gibraltar.  In  the  smoke  and  noise  of  London  I  must 
worry  away  this  winter.  For  several  months  longer  I 
can  enjoy  only  in  imagination  the  pleasures  of  a  fireside 
scene  in  Exeter." 

In  January,  181 1,  he  returned  to  America  and  resumed 
the  study  of  the  law  in  Boston. 


CHAPTER  II. 
Marriage.  —  Life  in  Belfast.  —  Death  of  his  Wife.  —  1811-1813. 

\7[/E  enter  now  on  the  period  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  life, 
*  for  the  description  of  which  his  correspondence 
furnishes  ample  materials,  and  extracts  from  a  large  col- 
lection of  his  letters  and  notes,1  will  tell  the  story  of  his 
career,  and  will  show,  in  characteristic  proportions,  the 
qualities  and  peculiarities  that  formed  both  his  strength 
and  his  weakness.  Earnest  and  enduring,  but  sensitive 
affections  ;  a  love  of  intellectual  acquisition,  too  omniv- 
orous, perhaps,  yet  which,  aided  by  an  excellent  memory, 
made  his  happiness  and  gave  value  to  his  life  ;  very  ac- 
tive physical  habits,  degenerating  often  into  restlessness  ; 
a  lack  of  practical  foresight,  especially  in  business  mat- 
ters ;  playfulness,  without  originality  of  wit  or  humor ; 
entire  purity  and  uprightness,  great  amiability  and  sim- 
plicity of  nature,  with  warm  religious  feelings  ;  —  these 
elements  of  character  will  all  be  found  expressed  in  his 
familiar  words  to  his  intimate  friends,  and  they  will, 
surely,  produce  a  more  convincing  impression  thus,  than 
by  any  arguments  or  statements  of  a  biographer. 

These  letters  do  not,  however,  represent  the  joyousness 
of  Mr.  Cogswell's  nature ;  the  power  he  had,  when 
among  friends    and  under  happy    influences  of  health 

1  More  than  eleven  hundred. 


Age  24.]  POWERS    OF  CONVERSATION.  I  3 

and  weather,  of  enjoying  and  expressing  enjoyment.  At 
times  his  gayety  was  abundant ;  but  no  man,  sitting  down 
to  write  a  letter,  can  utter  this  transient  frolicsome  mood. 
He  frequently  alludes  to  moments  of  boyish  spirits,  and 
to  great  enjoyment  of  life,  but  this  is,  of  course,  not  the 
prevailing  tone. 

Again,  except  in  the  proofs  which  occur,  casually,  in 
his  correspondence,  of  the  pleasure  he  gave  as  a  travel- 
ling companion,  and  of  the  degree  to  which  he  was  sought 
in  society  wherever  he  went,  there  can  be  no  indication 
of  his  agreeable  powers  of  conversation  ;  but  this  in- 
ference must  be  drawn  from  incidental  facts. 


Ipswich,  23d  July,  181 1*.  ...  I  do  not  pretend  to 
call  the  present  a  letter,  but  merely  send  to  ask  a  very 
great  favor  of  you.  Mrs.  and  Mr.  Prescott,1  Mrs.  and 
Mr.  I.  Thorndike,  senior  and  junior,  etc.,  take  their  accus- 
tomed eastern  tour  next  week,  and  I  am  to  make  one  of 
the  party.     Now  I  wish,  with  all  my  heart  and  soul,  you 

will  take  a  seat  in  my  chaise  and  go  with  me We 

shall  be  in  Portland,  probably,  on  Wednesday  of  the  next 
week,  to  dine,  when  I  hope  to  find  you  prepared  to  ac- 
company me.  I  have  very  special  reasons  why  I  wish 
you  to  go  that  way  with  me.  I  shall  be  in  Exeter  on 
Monday  morning,  and  shall  expect  to  receive  an  answer 
from  you. 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


1  The  parents  of  the  historian.  Mr.  dike  was  a  rich  merchant.  With  both 
Cogswell  was,  probably,  still  studying  these  families  Mr.  Cogswell  preserved  a 
law  in  Mr.  Prescott's  office.     Mr.  Thorn-     life-long  connection. 


14  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [i8ir. 

Boston,  September  23,  181 1.*  When  Foster  returned 
from  Portland  he  brought  me  letters  from  two  very  dear 
friends,  the  one  of  which  you  know  who  wrote,  the  other 
I  suppose  you  can  guess.  However,  I  candidly  confess 
to  you  it  was  from  one  I  love  even  more  than  I  do  you,1 
and  that  I  read  the  letter  that  was  not  from  you,  not 
once  only,  but  twice,  before  I  broke  the  seal  of  yours. 
At  the  same  time  I  assure  you  I  have  no  other  friend  to 
whose  letters  I  would  have  given  more  than  a  single 
reading,  while  yours  remained  unread To  pre- 
serve the  true  spirit  of  friendly  correspondence,  I  con- 
ceive, requires  more  exercise  of  the  affections  of  the 
heart. than  of  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  it  is  for  this 
reason  that  ladies  commonly  excel  us  in  epistolary  writ- 
ing. I  know  of  no  reading  more  dry  and  uninteresting 
than  the  letters  of  great  men,  I  mean  particularly  among 
the  moderns,  for  those  of  Cicero  and  Pliny  I  never  read, 
and  of  course  pretend  not  to  judge  of  their  merit.  I  am 
not  so  gallant  as  to  acknowledge  that  females  possess  a 
superiority  of  intellect,  nor  so  illiberal  as  to  deny  them 
an  equality,  but  in  all  the  requisites  necessary  to  the  at- 
tainment of  a  pleasing  and  interesting  style  of  letter- 
writing,  they  are   eminently  above   us We  have 

nothing  new  either  in  the  fashionable,  political,  or  literary 
world,  except  that  Scott's  "  Vision  of  Don  Roderic  "  is 
coming  out  to-morrow.  I  have  heard  nothing  of  the 
merit  of  this  poem,  for  I  believe  no  one  has  read  it,  as 
but  one  copy  has  been  imported.     I  cannot  think   that 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 
1  No  doubt  from  Mary  Gilman. 


Age  25-1  HIS   MARRIAGE.  1 5 

Scott  will  add  to  his  reputation  by  publishing  more.  It 
appears  to  me  that  he  owes  much  of  his  celebrity  to  the 
novel  style  of  his  performances,  and  that  this  charm  will 
soon  cease  to  operate ;  he  certainly  possesses  imagina- 
tion and  invention  in  a  high  degree,  united  with  a  talent 
for  beautiful  description,  but  still  he  does  not  write  for 
posterity.  My  prediction  is  that  his  fame  in  the  suc- 
ceeding age  will  not  equal  his  present,  and  that  the  place 
he  now  occupies  will  be  again  filled  by  those  who  have 

a  higher  claim  to  it Tell  M.  I  shall  write  to  her 

soon  ;  we  are  at  present  very  much  engaged  or  I  should 
not  send  you  this  unaccompanied.  All  day  I  have  been 
diligently  at  work  in  draughting  deeds  and  leases ;  you 
know  the  pleasantness  of  such  jobs,  and  can  sympathize 
with  me. 


Having  qualified  himself  to  practice  his  profession, 
and  to  rely  upon  it  for  a  modest  income,  Mr.  Cogswell 
was  married  on  the  17th  of  April,  181 2,  to  the  object  of 
his  early  devotion,  Mary  F.  Oilman,  third  daughter  of 
the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  Hon.  John  Taylor 
Gilman.  They  went  to  live  in  Belfast,  Maine,  on  the 
outskirts  of  civilization,  where  the  young  lawyer  opened 
an  office.  Elizabeth  Gilman,  the  youngest  sister  and 
inseparable  companion  of  Mrs.  Cogswell,  went  with  them, 
and  shared  their  home.1 

For  a  few  months  they  led  a  life  of  simple,  but  con- 
centrated happiness,  enjoying  the  isolation  of  their  re- 

1  A   small  scrap  of  paper,  worn   and  on  Thursday,  July  16.     On  the  next  re- 
discolored,  contains   notes  in    Elizabeth  turn  of  that  day  Mary  Cogswell  died  in 
Gilman's  writing,  of  their  journey  to  Bel-  Exeter, 
fast,  and   shows  that  they  arrived  there 


1 6  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [,8n. 

mote  corner  of  the  earth,  and  drawing  intense  pleasure 
from  their  sympathy  in  refined  and  intellectual  pursuits. 
But  it  was  not  long  before  Mrs.  Cogswell's  health,  which 
had  already  been  delicate,  became  seriously  affected, 
symptoms  of  pulmonary  troubles  developed  more  and 
more,  and,  as  the  winter  set  in,  her  husband  was  forced 
to  escort  her  and  her  sister  back  to  Exeter,  and  to  leave 
them  there  under  their  father's  care.  Hoping  that  the 
less  severe  climate,  and  the  greater  comforts  of  her  early 
home  would  promote  her  recovery,  he  parted  from  her 
and  returned  to  work  in  solitude,  with  an  anxious  heart. 


At  this  time  he  writes,  — 

Belfast,  Jajiuary  17,  1813*  It  will  not,  I  trust,  be 
presuming  too  much  on  your  affection  to  suppose  you 
will  feel  interested  in  some  little  account  of  myself.  At 
present  I  am  the  sole  occupant  of  a  large  house,  in  one 
of  the  front  rooms  of  which  is  my  office,  and,  back  of  it, 
my  lodging  and  keeping  room.  Having  so  long  been 
used  to  society  which  made  every  leisure  moment  de- 
lightful, I  feel  most  sensibly  my  present  solitary  situa- 
tion, as  you  may  easily  imagine.  I  am  now  obliged  to 
make  books  my  companions,  and  business  my  diversion. 
Were  it  not  that  my  mind  is  continually  dwelling  on  the 
feeble  state  of  M[ary]'s  health,  my  time,  even  away  from 
the  dearest  of  all  friends,  would  pass  somewhat  pleas- 
antly, as  I  know  it  is  for  the  most  part  usefully  employed. 
Conceive  how  a  person  of  any  love  for  reading  would 
spend  his  time,  in  a  situation  where  dwelt    no    living 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  26.]  LIFE   IN  BELFAST.  1 7 

being  for  whom  he  felt  any  interest,  and  surrounded  by 
a  multitude  of  books  ;  conceive  of  such  a  person  in  such 
a  place,  and  you  may  at  once  judge  of  my  occupations 
and  employments. 

Belfast,  Friday  Eve.,  Jantiary  15,  181 3*  I  am 
quietly  seated  in  the  little  room  back  of  my  office,  by  the 
side  of  a  fine  fire ;  as  I  hear  the  wind  whistle,  and  the 
snow  beat  violently  against  my  windows,  I  think  of  the 
thousand  houseless  wretches  who  will  have  to  pass  a 
miserable  night,  and  earnestly  wish  that  the  many  unoc- 
cupied apartments  of  my  habitation  might  serve  them 
for  a  shelter.  I  neither  make  nor  receive  visits;  scarce 
an  individual,  clients  excepted,  has  entered  my  door 
since  I  returned  from  Exeter;  my  books,  I  believe,  are 
my  best  friends,  and  I  am  sure  they  are  the  pleasantest 

companions  I  can  find,  in  this  savage  land I  usually 

sit  up  till  midnight,  and  if  it  be  very  cold  I  keep  a  good 
fire  till  morning.  I  rise  at  the  first  dawn  of  day,  and  get 
through  with  all  my  domestic  duties,  such  as  making  my 
bed,  sweeping  my  room,  kindling  a  fire  in  my  office,  etc., 
etc.,  by  Cunningham's  hour  for  breakfast,  which  is  half 
past  eight ;  at  nine  I  am  ready  for  the  business  of  my 

office,  to  which  I  devote  the  day I  have  no  hopes 

of  making  my  hours  happy  ones,  but  I  intend  they  shall- 
be  usefully  and    diligently  devoted    to    improving    my 
mind  and  mending  my  heart. 

The  more  I  become  acquainted  with  mankind  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  the  more  degraded  I  find  the  human 
character  here  ;  as  the  distresses  of  the  people  :  increase, 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  Owing  to  the  war  with  England. 
3 


iS  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1813. 

their  vices  appear  to  multiply,  and  those  who  have  here- 
tofore been  used  to  resort  to  industry  for  their  support, 
now  procure  it  by  the  basest  and  most  unprincipled  acts. 
When  I  hear  our  first  lawyers,  and  even  our  judges, 
avow  that  no  man  can  succeed  here  by  uprightness  and 
honorable  dealing,  I  blush  for  the  character  of  the  pro- 
fession ;  but  so  it  is. 

Belfast,  January  30,  181 3.*.  .  .  .  The  account  which 
they  give  me  of  Mary's  improved  health,  rejoices  my 
heart,  and  relieves  me  of  much  of  that  anxiety  which  my 
absence  from  her  has  occasioned.  Her  letters  have 
always  indicated  a  good  degree  of  cheerfulness  of  mind, 
and  I  believe  no  one  who  loved  a  husband  as  she  does 
me,  could  bear  a  separation  from  him  with  more  resig- 
nation than  she  has  done.  I  am  very  glad  for  her  sake, 
that  she  is  not  in  this  dreadful  cold  country,  at  this 
inclement  season  ;  my  thermometer  scarce  ever  rises 
above  o.  This  morning  at  six  it  stood  at  16  below. 
The  house  in  which  I  live  is  so  miserably  built,  that  it  is 

hardly  possible  to  make  it  comfortably  warm In 

going  from  the  fire  to  the  back  side  of  my  room  you 
must  pass  through  every  temperature,  from  that  of  the 
equator  to  that  of  the  poles,  and,  if  your  progress  be  not 
very  rapid,  you  would  become  as  immovable  before  you 
reached  there,  as  the  mountains  of  ice  which  eternally 
surround  those  regions. 

Belfast,  February  20,  181 3*  .  .  .  .  I  shudder  when  I 
think  of  our  condition  in  this  part  of  the  country,  as 
moral  beings.  The  first  principles  of  religion  are  abso- 
lutely unknown  to  a  great  portion  here;  and  the  laws  of 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  26.]  ILLNESS    OF  HIS   WIFE.  1 9 

morality  are  wholly  disregarded.  I  never  knew,  till  my 
present  residence  in  Belfast,  that  there  was  such  a  total 
neglect  of  the  Sabbath  here.  Last  summer  when  Mary 
and  Elizabeth  were  here,  we  spent  the  day  in  such  de- 
votional exercises  as  we  thought  proper  at  home,  and 
as  I  rarely  went  out,  I  had  no  opportunity  of  knowing 
how  it  was  profaned ;  now,  as  I  am  obliged  to  pass 
through  the  street  several  times  in  the  day,  to  my  board- 
ing-house, I  see  the  manner  in  which  it  is  spent,  and  it 
really  shocks  me  to  perceive  so  little  regard  paid  to  an 
institution  of  divine  origin,  observance  of  which  is  re- 
quired by  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  respect  to  public 
decency  of  manners. 

Belfast,  Friday  Eve.,  March  5  [1813].*  .  .  .  .  A  let- 
ter from  our  dearly  beloved  Mary,  had  filled  my  whole 
soul  with  anguish  unmingled.  It  was  written  during 
the  absence  of  her  papa  and  Elizabeth,  and  immediately 
after  she  learnt  my  murderous  intention  of  remaining 
here  till  the  close  of  the  month  ;  her  disappointments 
had  been  repeated  till  they  had  driven  her  to  despair. 
In  such  an  agonized  state  of  mind  she  wrote  to  me  her 
heart  refused  all  consolation The  most  cruel  tor- 
ments ever  devised  by  the  Inquisition  were  ecstasy  com- 
pared with  the  torture  I  suffered  that  night To 

have  been  enabled  to  have  flown  to  her  relief,  and  put 
an  immediate  end  to  her  unhappiness,  I  would  have  re- 
nounced all  that  the  world  can  give,  I  would  have  done 

more,  I  would  have  renounced  my  hopes  of  heaven 

Were  I  to  quote  to  you  some  passages  of  M.'s  letter,  you 
would  wonder  that  madness  had  not  taken  her  seat  in 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


20  JOSErH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1813. 

my  brain,  from  the  moment  I  read  them ;  the  following 
will,  alone,  be  sufficient  to  convince  you  of  what  I  say. 
In  speaking  of  the  reasons  why  I  ought  to  be  with  her, 
she  concludes  with  this  :  "  You  have  probably  many 
years  to  attend  to  business,  and  probably  as  few  weeks 

to  devote  to  me."     It  was  scored  as  you  see You 

have  never  been  in  the  dreadful  situation  in  which  I  now 
am,  where  absolute  duties  were  calling  you  different 
ways  ;  had  it  been  possible  I  would  have  left  here  the 
moment  I  received  M.'s  letter,  but  unhappily  I  had  en- 
gagements which  compelled  me  to  remain  ;  I  have  no 
doubt  she  grew  more  composed  when  her  papa  and  E. 
returned,  had  I  not  every  reason  to  suppose  so,  I  would 

neglect  everything  and  go  immediately  to  Exeter 

I  shall  never  be  able  to  justify  myself  to  my  own  heart, 
for  deserting  the  most  affectionate  of  wives,  in  the  pres- 
ent feeble  state  of  her  health  ;  but  when  I  left  Exeter,  I 
thought  she  was  gaining  strength  and  growing  better 
every  day;  had  I  supposed  that  my  parting  from  her 
would  have  impeded  her  recovery,  no  consideration 
whatever  would  have  induced  me  to  have  abandoned 
her  for  a  single  hour.  I  hope  to  make  some  reparation 
for  my  unkindness  by  de.voting  myself  for  the  future 
entirely  to  her ;  business  shall  never  again  separate  me 
from  her  whom  I  have  solemnly  promised  to  love  and 
cherish;  a  mistaken  idea  of  duty  called  me  from  her, 
but  I  now  know  better  where  that  directs  me,  and  as  its 
path  leads  me  to  happiness,  I  should  not  only  be  wicked, 
but  weak,  were  I  to  turn  aside  from  it. 


Age  26.]  RETURN  TO   EXETER.  21 

Exeter,  March  15,  1813.*  My  dear  Sister,  —  I  re- 
turned from  Belfast  on  Friday  last,  and  intend  in  a  short 
time  to  make  a  visit  to  my  beloved  friends  in  Ipswich  ; 
our  dear  Mary  is  not  willing  to  part  with  me  at  present. 
I  was  rejoiced  to  find  her  on  my  return  so  much  better 
than  when  I  left  her ;  as  soon  as  warm  weather  visits  us 
again  I  have  no  doubt  we  shall  see  her  making  rapid 
progress  toward  confirmed  health.  I  hope  we  shall  be 
able  to  spend  much  of  the  approaching  summer  with 
you,  my  beloved  sister.  The  continuance  of  the  war 
and  the  delicacy  of  M.'s  health  have  determined  me  not 
to  return  again  to  Belfast  for  a  permanent  residence,  and 
we  intend  to  give  a  portion  of  our  time  to  our  friends  in 
Ipswich.  I  cannot  say  with  certainty  at  what  time  I 
shall  be  with  you,  but  as  M.  will  not  be  able  for  several 
weeks  to  ride  so  far  as  Ipswich,  I  shall  make  you  a  short 
visit  before  we  come  together.  Remember  me  with  af- 
fection and  respect  to  our  dear  mother,  and  to  all  friends, 
and  believe  me  to  be  sincerely  your  brother.  J. 

[P.  S.  from  Mrs.  Cogswell] You  know  not  how 

grateful  I  feel  for  my  husband's  return,  nor  how  much  I 
regretted  his  long  absence.  He  is  such  a  blessing,  such 
a  comfort  to  me,  that  I  am  not  willing  now  to  have  him 
absent  a  moment,  and  his  friends  here  think  me  very 
selfish  to  keep  him  at  home  all  the  time.  The  severity 
of  the  weather  prevents  me  from  riding,  or  taking  any 
kind  of  exercise,  but  I  hope  it  will  soon  be  warmer,  as  I 
cannot  expect  to  gain  much  strength  until  I  can  take 
the  air  more  freely.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you,  and 
our  dear  mother,  have  enjoyed  good  health  this  winter. 

•  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich. 


2  2  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1813- 

Our  cousins,  too,  I  wish  you  would  tell  them  they  must 
not  forget  me.  How  good  you  were  to  send  me  those 
oranges  so  nicely  put  up ;  they  are  very  nice,  and  I 
thank  you  for  them.  It  is  late  and  I  can  only  say  how 
sincerely  I  am  your  affectionate  sister, 

Mary  G.  Cogswell. 

Exeter,  July  2,  181 3* —  It  grieves  me  to  the  heart 
to  be  obliged  to  inform  you  that  our  dear  M.  is  very 

much  more  feeble  than  when   I   last  wrote We 

rode  about  eight  miles  to-day,  which  fatigued  her  more 
than  twenty  did  a  short  time  since.  I  am  almost  com- 
pelled to  give  up  all  hopes  of  her  accompanying  me  to 
Ipswich,  she  is  so  much  reduced  in  a  few  days 


On  the  1 6th  of  July  the  young  wife  breathed  her  last, 
and  the  parting,  which  to  her  unhappy  husband  seemed 
certain  to  be  but  for  a  short  space,  so  sure  was  he  that 
his  own  life  would  not  be  prolonged,  proved  to  be  a  part- 
ing for  many  long  years.  Ten  days  after  her  death,  he 
answered  a  letter  of  sympathy  thus  :  — 

Exeter,  July  27,  1813.!  Let  me  thank  you,  my 
dear  friend,  for  the  tender  interest  you  have  taken  in  my 
sorrows;  although  my  heart  is  still  bleeding,  I  cannot 
forbear  to  express  my  gratitude  to  you  for  your  affection- 
ate sympathy.  The  language  of  your  letter  was  all  I 
could  have  wished ;  from  a  friend  like  you  none  more 
soothing  could  have  been  offered ;  it  was  suited  to  my 

*  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  26.]  DEATH  OF  MRS.    COGSWELL.  23 

affliction  —  it  was  worthy  of  your  feeling  heart.  God  in 
his  wisdom  has  seen  fit  to  visit  me  with  the  severest 
chastening  that  could  possibly  be  inflicted  on  me ;  but  I 
hope  He  will  enable  me  to  submit  without  murmuring. 
He  has  removed  from  me  all  that  brightened  the  hori- 
zon of  my  earthly  prospects ;  the  pain  and  anguish  I  now 
feel  may  be  alleviated,  but  my  eye  is  closed  forever. 
The  wound  occasioned  by  its  removal  may  possibly  be 
healed,  but  I  shall  ever  be  surrounded  with  the  darkness 
in  which  it  left  me.  I  understand  from  our  good  friend 
Daveis,  that  he  gave  you  a  sketch  of  the  parting  scene. 
Never,  I  assure  you  my  dear  George,  never  did  any 
Christian  discover  more  perfect  serenity,  more  humble 
resignation,  than  marked  the  last  hours  of  our  dear 
departed,  sainted  Mary.  The  friends  who  stood  around 
her,  were  her  papa,  her  sisters,  and  myself.  Was  mor- 
tal ever  called  upon  to  separate  from  friends  that  were 
loved  with  tenderer  and  truer  affection  than  that  which 
M.  felt  for  us  ?  No,  it  were  impossible  ;  still  the  thought 
that  she  was  soon  to  be  received  into  the  arms  of  one, 
dearer  to  her  than  us  all,  animated  and  supported 
her  in  that  trying  hour,1  she  smiled  while  the  last  fare- 

1  Mrs.    Nicholas    Emery  —  an    elder  hour  smiled    upon   us   all   and   expired 

daughter  of  Governor  Gilman  —  writing  without  a  groan. 

to  her  husband,  from  Exeter,  July  29,  "  I  hope  always  to  remember  the  ex- 
says  in  allusion  to  her  sister's  death :  pression  of  her  countenance,  when  her 
"  She  look'd  like  an  angel  several  hours  husband  told  her  she  would  soon  leave 
before  her  dissolution,  said  she  was  very  dear  friends,  to  meet  one  more  dear. 
happy  and  hoped  we  were  so,  and  con-  ....  Never  was  there  a  more  devoted 
sidered  herself  blessed  in  having  us  husband.  He  was  all  kindness  and  atten- 
around  her  —  commended  her  husband  tion.  He  was  physician,  nurse,  brother, 
to  father,  and  said  she  sometimes  feared  sister,  and  friend  united.  It  will  never 
that  she  loved  him  too  much,  in  half  an  be  forgotten  by  us,  and  his  own  reflec- 
tions must  be  very  soothing." 


24  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1813. 

well  was  quivering  upon  her  lips.  It  was  not  a  cold 
philosophic  fortitude  that  sustained  her  in  the  conflict, 
it  was  the  hope  and  faith  of  a  humble  Christian.  If  I 
were  not  selfish,  I  should  not  mourn  as  I  now  do,  at  her 
departure ;  indeed  I  do  not  wish  to  call  her  back,  I  pray 
only  to  be  permitted  to  follow  her,  —  that  prayer  I  trust 
will  soon  be  granted  me.  I  am  wholly  incapacitated 
for  the  active  duties  of  life,  and  I  cannot  believe  that 
Heaven  will  punish  me  by  a  very  long  confinement  in 
this  miserable  prison,  and  continue  to  me  that  existence 
which  has  now  become  a  burden.  It  is  now  a  little 
more  than  thirteen  years  since  our  acquaintance  and  our 
attachment  first  commenced,  and  never,  in  that  whole 
time,  did  I  hear  one  word  from  the  lips  of  my  dear  M., 
or  observe  in  her  a  single  act,  which  I  could  have 
wished  to  have  been  otherwise  ;  she  was  uniformly 
and  without  exception,  as  affectionate,  attentive,  and 
studious  of  my  happiness,  as  mortal  being  could  have 
been.     Could  I  lose  such  a  friend  and  wish  to  live  ? 

Convinced  that  I  never  could  return  to  my  profession, 
and  sensible,  too,  that  while  I  am  continued  in  life  I 
ought  not  to  be  idle,  I  turned  my  thoughts  to  Cam- 
bridge, as  a  place  which  would  afford  me  a  retreat  from 
the  bustle  of  the  world,  and  at  the  same  time  call  upon 
me  for  industry  and  the  exercise  of  the  powers  I  possess. 
I  wrote  to  the  President  a  day  or  two  since,  requesting 
him  to  name  me  to  the  Corporation  as  a  candidate  for 
any  office  in  which  there  might  be  a  vacancy.  Should 
you  see  him,  you  would  oblige  me  by  assuring  him 
that  it  is  my  serious  intention  to  pass  the  rest  of  my  life 
within  the  walls  of  Harvard,  should  it  be  permitted  me ; 


Age  26.]  CHARACTER   IN   YOUTH.  25 

at  the  same  time,  could  you  conscientiously  add  your 
recommendation,  it  would  greatly  increase  the  obliga- 
tion if  you  would  do  it.  On  this  subject  I  will  reason 
with  you  when  we  meet.  Before  I  can  visit  Boston,  I 
must  make  a  journey  to  Belfast  to  close  my  business 
there.  This  I  shall  probably  commence  next  week,  and 
return  near  the  end  of  August.  Our  dear  friend  Daveis 
is  still  with  us.  He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  console 
us,  his  kindness  to  me  in  my  affliction  has  endeared 
him  to  me  more  than  ever.  He  leaves  us  on  Friday  or 
Saturday.    Adieu,  my  dear  George,  sincerely  your  friend, 

Joseph  G.  Cogswell. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  dated  August  30, 
1 81 3,  shows  the  watchful  interest  of  his  friends,  and 
gives  a  view  of  his  character  in  youth,  by  a  contempo- 
rary and  intimate. 

GEORGE    TICKNOR   TO    CHARLES    S.    DAVEIS. 

Poor  Cogswell  !  I  am  very  anxious  to  see  him  and 
discuss  with  him  his  plans  and  prospects,  which,  I  must 

confess  seem  to  me  illjudged  and  unpromising 

He  seems  to  believe  that  his  whole  character  is  changed 
and  that  it  is  time  to  change  his  objects.  But  the  very 
circumstances  and  suddenness  of  his  determination 
show  that  his  original  dispositions  are  still  strong  within 
him  —  that  he  has  lost  nothing  of  his  decision  and  im- 
petuosity, though  they  have  changed  their  direction. 
If  I  thought  that  a  spirit  so  impatient  and  restless  as 
his  would  always  remain  satisfied  with  the  even  tenor 
and  gradual  progress  of  a  college  life  —  if  I  thought 
4 


26  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1813- 

the  hand  of  death  had  not  only  removed  the  object  of 
his  affections  and  cares,  and  darkened  the  path  and 
prospects  of  his  life,  but  had  also  taken  from  him  the 
radical  principle  of  his  character,  and  implanted  in  its 
stead  another  and  an  opposite  principle,  then  I  would 
not  ask  him  to  forbear  from  following  the  suggestions  of 

his  grief  or  despair I   am  not  sure  that  I  should 

not  prefer  to  have  a  friend  of  mine  an  able  professor 
rather  than  an  able  lawyer.  Cogswell  certainly  has  tal- 
ents enough  for  either,  but  his  talents  are  associated  with 
an  eagerness  for  the  attainment  of  his  object  which  often 
prevents  him  from  devoting  time  enough  to  secure  it. 
It  is  therefore  difficult  for  him  to  find  an  employment  to 
which  he  can  promise  his  life.  The  profession  he  had 
chosen  seemed,  however,  better  adapted  to  his  character 
than  any  other.  Its  principles,  from  their  importance 
and  immediate  utility,  would  attract  and  fix  his  attention, 
while  at  the  same  time  its  practice  would  afford  him  that 
change  and  variety,  of  circumstances  and  intercourse,  for 
which  he  has  from  constitution  and  habit  so  strong  an 
appetite.  He  has  studied  it  faithfully  and  can,  I  have 
no  doubt,  pursue  it  with  success.  .  .  .  Every  man  when 
depressed  with  sorrow  should  look  to  employment  for 
relief —  and  Cogswell,  above  all  men,  wants  active  prac- 
tical employment  to  absorb,  as  far  as  possible,  his  atten- 
tion and  interest Shut  him  up  under  the  ex- 
hausted receiver  of  a  tutorship,  and  he  will  either  break 
the  glass  in  his  struggle,  or  perish,  for  want  of  the  very 
principle  which  you  have  excluded.  .  .  .  He  is  formed 
for  the  world  and  he  must  live  in  it.  He  must  mingle 
with  his  fellow  beings  and  enter  into  their  projects,  and 


Age  26.]  CHARACTER   IN   YOUTH.  27 

feel  their  hopes  and  their  fears,  he  must  be  continually 
active  and' interested,  or  he  cannot  long  be  happy,  or 
even  contented.  Nor  is  he  one  who  can  be  satisfied 
with  narrow  limits  or  a  short  range.  ...  to  give  the  key 
to  his  character  in  a  single  word,  — he  is  one  of  the  few 
spirits  to  whom  society  is  necessary  and  who  are  neces- 
sary to  society. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Latin  Tutor  at  Harvard  College,  1813-1815.  —  Botany. 

"DELFAST,  Sunday  Eve.,  August  10,  181 3.*  ...  I 
■*-*  reached  here  last  evening  about  eight ;  the  last  fifty 
miles  of  the  journey  I  came  on  horseback.  I  left  Port- 
land on  Friday  morning  in  the  stage,  and  came  on  to 
Wiscasset,  where  I  took  a  horse,  and  rode  that  evening 
as  far  as  Bryant's.  Yesterday  I  rode  about  forty  miles. 
When  I  had  approached  within  three  of  Belfast,  it  wanted 
a  few  minutes  of  seven.  I  found  myself  too  much  agi- 
tated to  venture  into  town  by  the  light  of  day.  I  got 
down  from  my  horse,  and  waited  by  the  side  of  a  wood, 
for  the  shades  of  night  to  advance.  In  a  short  time  the 
bay  became  covered  with  fog,  the  moon  was  dimly  seen 
through  the  mist  which  filled  the  atmosphere,  —  I  con- 
tinued my  way  into  the  village,  with  a  heart  pained  and 
pierced  with  sorrows,  the  emotions  of  which  were  too 
violent  to  be  exposed  to  the  observation  of  unfeeling 
beholders.  When  I  arrived  at  Cunningham's,  I  found 
my  way  into  an  unoccupied  apartment  where  I  remained 
for  some  time  undisturbed.  I  have  not  yet  been  out, 
nor  have  I  seen  anyone  out  of  Mr.  Cunningham's  house, 
but  Mr.  Anderson.  He  passed  part  of  this  forenoon  with 
me ;  from  him  I  learnt  that  another  most  trying  scene 

*  To  Miss  E.  T.  Gilman,  Exeter. 


Age  27.]  VISITS    TO   BELFAST.  29 

awaits  me  —  the  house  remains  exactly  as  when  we  left 
it,  the  furniture  untouched  —  no  occupant  has  offered,  and 
he  has  let  all  be  as  in  our  happy  days  —  how  shall  I 
enter  the  abode  which  was  once  so  delightful  to  me  — 
how  shall  I  go  over  the  deserted  apartments,  in  which 
every  object  will  speak  to  me  in  the  loudest  language,  and 
tell  me  that  my  happiness  is  fled,  forever  fled  from  earth  ? 

Belfast,  August  16,  181 3.*.  ...  I  heard  from  Pres- 
ident Kirkland  last  week  —  he  says  I  can  have  the  office 
of  Tutor  in  Cambridge,  without  doubt ;  Mr.  Everett  is 
to  leave  in  October,  or  first  part  of  November,  which 
will  be  as  soon  as  I  wish  to  go.  I  feel  some  satisfaction 
in  the  view  of  going  to  Cambridge.  It  will  give  me  a 
retreat  from  the  world,  and  enable  me  to  contribute  as 
much  to  the  comfort  of  my  friends,  as  any  situation  I 
could  be  in.  Were  it  possible  for  me  to  do  anything  in 
Ipswich,  I  should  wish  to  be  constantly  with  you  and 
mother,  but  I  know  were  I  to  remain  there,  it  would  de- 
prive me  of  the  means  which  I  shall  now  have  of  repay- 
ing you  for  some  of  the  infinite  acts  of  kindness,  which 
you  have  shown  me. 

Portland,  Monday,  November  8,  18 13.*  I  have  just 
arrived  here  on  my  way  homeward  from  Belfast.1  My 
journey  has  been  very  fatiguing,  and  as  the  season  was 
dreary  and  the  roads  very  bad,  I  found  it  exceedingly 
tedious,  but  I  knew  my  duty  required  that  I  should  go 

*  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich. 
1  From  his  second  visit  to  Belfast  since  his  wife's  death. 


30  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [isl- 

and I  could  not  suffer  mere  regard  to  my  own  comfort 
to  prevent  it.  I  concluded  to  go  the  whole  way  in  my 
chaise,  because  the  stage  did  not  set  out  from  Portland, 
at  the  time  I  expected,  and  I  had  reason  to  repent  of  it 
every  mile  I  advanced,  as  I  found  the  travelling  so  very 
rough  and  heavy,  and  the  weather  so  cold  and  stormy. 


Cambridge,  February  21,  18 14.*  .  .  .  .  I  intended  to 
have  sent  you  a  letter  before  ;  but  in  addition  to  our 
usual  duties,  we  have  had  several  examinations  for  ad- 
mission into  college,  which  made  great  demands  upon 
my  time,  and  not  being  familiar  with  the  business  of  my 
situation  in  general,  I  have  been  obliged  hitherto  to  de- 
vote every  moment  to  it.  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  with 
my  choice  of  occupations There  is  nothing  re- 
quired here  of  an  instructor,  that  is  unpleasant  to  me  to 
perform.  I  never  had  the  great  hatred  to  the  occupa- 
tion which  many  feel,  and  I  hope  I  never  shall  have, 
while  I  find  it  necessary  for  me  to  be  engaged  in  it. 

Cambridge,  February  28,  1814.!  ....  From  long 
neglect  of  any  critical  attention  to  Latin,  I  was  obliged  to 
labor  hard  in  preparing  myself  for  the  office  of  instructor ; 
the  task,  however,  becomes  every  day  more  pleasant  and 
familiar.  My  experience  has  been  too  short  to  enable 
me  to  say  how  much  to  my  mind  I  shall  find  the  situa- 
tion here,  but  as  far  as  opportunity  has  been  afforded  me 
of  judging,  it  is  full  as  agreeable  as  I  expected. 


To  Miss  E.  Cogswell.  t  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  27.]    EDWARD  EVERETT  AS  A   PREACHER.  3 1 

Cambridge,  Thursday  Eve.,  March  24,  18 14.*  .  .  .  . 
I  am  very  glad  you  have  had  an  opportunity  of  hearing 
E.  Everett.  You  must  have  been  struck  I  think,  with 
the  proofs  he  exhibits  of  uncommon  ripeness  of  mind, 
of  sober  thinking,  of  logical  precision,  and  of  pure,  chas- 
tened, and  correct  taste.  He  either  has  not  much  imag- 
ination, or  he  studiously  avoids  the  display  of  it.  While 
you  listen  to  him  you  do  not  find  yourself  compelled  to 
admire,  but  to  think  ;  he  does  not  charm  your  ears  with 
fine  language,  or  your  fancy  with  rich  imagery,  but  he 
fills  your  mind  with  ideas,  with  new  and  ingenious  and 
forcible  reflections.  In  my  view,  however,  he  is  a  minis- 
ter fit  only  for  a  society  of  literati  ;  he  takes  little  or  no 
hold  of  the  heart.  Mr.  Nichols  would  excite  more  devo- 
tional feelings,  he  would  make  more  religious  beings  by 
one  sermon,  than  Mr.  Everett  will  in  all  that  he  may 
ever  preach.  I  should  like  to  know  both  your1  opinions 
on  this  subject.  If  mine  is  wrong  I  would  change  it 
most  cheerfully.  It  would  be  a  great  joy  to  me  to  know 
that  talents  like  his  are  most  efficaciously  employed  in 
the  only  cause  worthy  of  engaging  them. 


Cambridge,  Monday  Morn.,  April  28,  1814.!  ...  . 
My  visit  to  dear  Exeter  afforded  me  great  comfort.  I 
had  the  mournful  satisfaction,  which  I  can  never  forego  on 
that  anniversary  while  I  live,  of  visiting  the  consecrated 
spot ;  but  I  feel  too  feeble  to  dwell  long  on  this  subject, 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis  and  Miss  E.  T.  Gilman.       t  To  Miss  E.  T.  Oilman,  Exeter. 
1  Mr.  Daveis  was  now  engaged  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Gilman. 


32  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  t"8'4- 

I  will  not  pain  you  by  recalling  these  sad  recollections. 
Ticknor  and  myself  had  a  very  comfortable  ride  to  Bos- 
ton, we  passed  Charlestown  bridge  just  as  the  bell  rang 
for  one  o'clock.  I  found  myself  nearly  exhausted  when 
I  reached  his  house,  but  the  kindly  attentions  of  his 
mother,  quite  restored  me. 

I  was  in  town  on  Saturday,  dear  E.,  and  made  enqui- 
ries for  the  articles  you  wished.  I  could  not  find  but 
one  whole  piece  of  linen  in  Boston,  and  that  very  ordi- 
nary for  the  price,  which  was  gs.  —  it  is  said  nothing  is 
more  scarce  ....  There  is  not  such  a  piece  of  silk  in 
Boston,  as  the  one  Mr.  Kidder  has,  none  but  India,  and 
a  few  pieces  of  Italian,  which  are  very  high 

Do  not  be  uneasy  on  my  account,  my  dear  sister, 
remember  that  in  this  changeable  season,  every  invalid 
is  feeble,  and  that  it  is  a  time  when  colds  very  generally 
prevail.  .  .  .  Our  thermometer  fell  between  Saturday 
noon,  and  Sabbath  morning,  50  degrees. 

Cambridge,  July  30th,  1814*  ....  On  Monday  morn., 
you  shall  find  yourself  in  my  chaise,  with  your  face 
toward  the  East ;  the  evening  by  the  permission  of 
Heaven,  shall  land  us  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  our 
revered  and  beloved  father,  with  whom  and  dear  E.  we 
will  remain,  as  long  as  your  avocations  and  the  great  works 
to  be  accomplished  by  me,  in  our  short  vacation,  will 
permit.  Here  you  are  to  change  your  compagnon  du 
voyage ;  while  I  start  in  the  morning  on  a  pedtstrzous 
botanic  excursion,  making  due  progress  towards  Mrs. 
Hobbs',  you   and   dear  E.  are  to   jog   slowly  on  after 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis. 


Age  28.]  BOTANIC   ZEAL.  33 

dinner,  and  meet  me  there  at  night.  Then  I  will  de- 
light your  eyes,  and  regale  your  olfactories,  with  the 
collected  beauties  and  perfumes  of  the  meadows  and 
woods;  —  the  modest  Mitchella,  —  the  humble  Lycopo- 
dium,  —  the  rich  Verbascum, — the  stately  Arctium, — 
the  fragrant  Nepeta.  —  the  magnificent  Helianthus  shall 
be  displayed  before  you  in  all  their  glory.  Say  not  one 
word  in  objection  to  this  plan  of  walking,  I  am  resolved 
upon  it,  not  for  your  gratification,  but  my  own.  All  the 
country  between  Exeter  and  Jefferds  is  very  productive 
in  fine  plants,  and  I  must  explore  it.  .  .  .  As  to  the 
fatigue,  I  should  think  nothing  of  it ;  constant  walking 
has  enabled  me  to  perform  wonders  in  that  way.  .  .  . 
I  do  not  slacken  at  all  in  my  botanic  zeal  ;  within  a  few 
weeks,  I  have  made  excursions  to  nearly  all  the  towns 
within  twenty  miles  of  Cambridge,  and  I  believe  I  de- 
rive more  health  from  the  exercise  than  I  should  from 
the  use  of  all  the  medicinal  plants  in  the  world. 

Cambridge,  Aug.  4,  1814.  *  .  .  .  Mrs.  Prescott  hearing 
that  you  would  attend  our  commencement,  requested 
me  to  send  you  the  enclosed  invitation.1  Do  not  think 
I  asked  for  it,  because  it  is  in  my  handwriting,  half  of 
all  she  sent  are  the  same,  besides  she  gave  me  cartes 
blanches  to  fill  up  as  I  might  wish. 


[1815.]  Feb.   20.  t     It   is    Sunday,   dear  George,  and 
you  know  I  have  ever  loved  to  pass  this  day  with  you- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Philadelphia. 

1  Invitations  to  the  fete  at   the   graduation  of  William  H.   Prescott,  the  future 
historian. 

5 


34  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1815. 

I  am  an  idolater,  for,  beside  the  great  God  above,  I  wor- 
ship many  of  those  on  earth,  whom  he  has  created  in 
his  own  image.  This  day  He  has  set  apart  for  Himself, 
but  how  often  on  this  day  have  my  heart  and  thoughts 
been  with  you  and  not  with  Him.  Was  I  wrong,  dear 
George,  in  the  choice  of  my  idol  ? 

I  must  begin  in  my  usual  style  of  lamentation.  My 
spirits  are  completely  down  ;  your  absence  makes  me 
more  than  sad.  .  .  .  You  had  not  been  gone  from  me 
a  month  before  I  found  that  my  happiness  had  accom- 
panied you.  I  sat  out  and  rode  with  all  possible  ra- 
pidity in  quest  of  my  friend  and  my  peace,  determined 
not  to  stop  till  I  found  the  object  of  my  pursuit.  I  felt 
sure  that  I  should  overtake  you  at  Washington,  until 
I  reached  Philadelphia,  and  there  I  learnt  that  you 
would  certainly  be  on  your  way  to  Richmond  before  I 
could  arrive  at  the  Capitol.  To  continue  my  journey 
beyond  Washington,  and  return  in  season  to  my  duties 
was  impossible,  I  could  do  nothing,  therefore,  but  sit 
down  and  sigh  at  my  disappointment,  and  seek  to  allevi- 
ate it  by  mixing  in  the  scenes  of  gayety  and  fashion 
at  Philadelphia.  In  that  way  I  got  rid  of  eleven  days 
there,  which  would  have  been  pleasant,  had  not  my 
heart  so  strongly  felt  the  void.  When  I  went  to  Mr. 
Meredith's  I  was  almost  happy,  his  sweetness  and  sin- 
cerity, Mrs.  M.'s  affectionate  and  interesting  manners, 
and  Miss  Gertrude's  beauty  and  elegance  quite  charmed 
me  ;  there,  too,  I  talked  of  you  with  friends  that  spoke 
as  if  they  loved  you;  that  made  me  love  them;  it  is 
indeed  a  delightful  family,  one  above  all  others  in  the 
city  to  compensate  a  Boston  man  for  absence  from  his 
home. 


Age  28.]  MARRIAGE   OF  C.  S.  DAVE  IS.  35 

After  eleven  days  of  dissipation  in  Philadelphia,  I  sat 
out,  with  Mr.  Perkins,  to  return  to  New  York.  There 
we  remained  together  four  days,  when  he  left  me  and 
continued  his  journey  homeward.  I  remained  one  day 
longer,  to  dine  with  Dr.  Mason  and  to  visit  the  young 
ladies  at  Mrs.  Brenton's  ....  I  visited  DeWitt  Clinton, 
and  was  awed  by  his  lofty  carriage,  his  noble  person,  his 
strong  marked,  deep  lined,  solemn,  penetrating,  design- 
ing countenance 


Boston,  April  4,  18 15*  Dear  Charles,  I  write  to 
you  from  Brooks's  shop,  where,  upon  a  consultation 
between  George,  Brooks,  and  myself,  we  have  concluded 
you  must  have  a  dark  brown  coat,  light  drab  small- 
clothes, and  white  vest.1  Silk  smalls  of  any  color  you 
cannot  nor  shall  not  have.  .  .  . 

You  shall  not  have  a  new  surtout  till  fall,  when  new 
fashions  will  come  over.  Geo.  Ticknor.     J.  G.  C. 

Cambridge,  June  7,  1815.!  ....  I  have  as  yet  said 
nothing  of  Charles's  marriage  .The  ceremony  was  per- 
formed on  the  1st  of  June,  by  Mr.  Parker  of  Ports- 
mouth. E.  looked  very  charming,  and  C.  very  happy, 
and  very  like  a  gentleman  in  his  brown  and  drab 
suit.  When  I  heard  the  guests  in  different  parts  of  the 
room  exclaim  "  How  handsome  he  is,"  I  could  not  but 
add  "  Yes,  but  he  owes  it  all  to  the  coat  that  George  and 
I  bought  for  him."     The  evening  was  a  joyful  one   to 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  London. 


1  Wedding  suit  for  Mr.  Daveis. 


36  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1815. 

me,  when  I  called  off  my  thoughts  from  my  own  sorrows  ; 
to  do  this  required  great  effort,  but  what  a  miserable 
claim  should  I  have  to  the  character  of  a  friend,  if  I 
could  not  take  delight  in  witnessing  the  happiness  of 
those  I  love,  even  when  it  reminded  me  of  my  own  be- 
reavements and  afflictions. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Second  trip  to  the  Mediterranean.     Life  in  Marseilles,  1815-16. 

TPSWICH,  Aug.  28,  181 5*  .  .  .  To-morrow  morn- 
ing  I  sail  for  the  South  of  France  ;  my  enfeebled 
frame  could  hardly  have  borne  the  blasts  of  our  winter 
and,  in  compliance  with  the  repeated  and  urgent  solici- 
tations of  all  who  were  near  me,  and  felt,  or  pretended 
to  feel  any  interest  in  me,  I  consented  again  to  exile 
myself  from  the  land  which  holds  all  that  I  love.  My 
unwillingness  to  go  again  to  a  foreign  land  was  so  great 
that  I  could  hardly  overcome  it;  but  all  were  pressing 
me  to  go,  some  commanding  and  some  entreating.  At 
length,  when  so  favorable  an  opportunity  presented,  I 
dared  no  longer  refuse  and  call  myself  a  reasonable 
man. 

Marseilles,  Oct.  6,  1815.!  .  .  .  I  rejoice  to  be  again 
on  the  same  continent  with  you,  my  dear  George.  I 
hope  that  ere  long  we  shall  meet.  You  will  probably 
wonder  at  my  fickleness  in  leaving  Cambridge  so  soon. 
I  am  sure,  however,  had  you  been  near  me  to  offer  your 
advice,  it  would  not  have  been  for  me  to  remain  there. 
During  the  whole  summer  I  have  been  too  sick  to  be 
of  any  use All  who  took  an  interest  in  me  im- 
periously demanded  of  me,  that  I  should   retire  for  a 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Gbttingen. 


38  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1815- 

time  from  the  duties  of  my  office  in  C.  A  temporary 
resignation  was  something,  in  my  opinion,  so  absurd 
that  I  would  not  ask  for  the  favor.  I  therefore  sent  in 
an  unqualified  one.  Being  thus  situated  Mr.  Prescott 
invited  me  to  pass  the  winter  in  St.  Michael's  with  Wil- 
liam, and  go  over  to  England  in  the  Spring.  Mr.  Thorn- 
dike  proposed  to  me  a  voyage,  as  passenger,  in  a  ship 
of  his  to  South  America  and  Canton,  at  the  same  time, 
offering  to  pay  all  the  expenses  I  might  incur ;  and 
some  other  gentlemen  in  Boston  were  kind  enough  to 
invite  me  to  take  passage  in  vessels  of  theirs  bound  to 
other  parts  of  the  world. 

The  proposal  of  Mr.  Gray  seemed  to  me,  however, 
the  most  eligible,  which  was  to  go  for  him  to  the  South 
of  France  and  Italy,  to  remain  until  my  health  should 
be  restored,  and  while  there  to  superintend  a  suit  of  his, 
in  the  French  court,  of  some  magnitude  ;  for  which  he 
agreed  to  pay  me  $2,000,  and  defray  all  my  expenses, 
and  to  allow  me  afterward  the  same  annual  compensa- 
tion, as  long  as  I  should  continue  in  Europe  and  take 
such  care  of  his  concerns,  in  general,  as  my  health 
would  permit.  I  have  been  thus  minute  in  stating  these 
circumstances  that  you  might  know,  my  dear  George, 
that  it  was  not  that  "  sated  of  home  "  I  am  now  here, 
but  because  all  the  world  said  I  must  and  ought  to 
come 

My  health  has  been  much  improved  by  the  voyage, 
which  was  remarkably  pleasant,  until  we  reached  the 
Mediterranean.  ...  I  am  at  present  in  quarantine  in 
the  Lazaret,  where  I  must  remain  five  or  six  days  more. 


Age  29.]  VISIT  TO   FRANCE.  39 

Marseilles,  Nov.  10,  181 5.*  .  .  .  .  I  did  not  know 
until  I  came  back  to  France,  what  a  change  a  few  years, 
and  the  deepest  sorrow  had  made  in  me  ;  when  I  was 
here  before  I  liked  to  engage  in  the  amusements  of 
the  place,  every  evening  found  me  at  the  theatre,  every 
day  I  dined  in  company,  the  follies  and  frivolities  of 
this  people  had  charms  for  me,  but  all  is  now  reversed. 
I  have  been  on  shore  near  five  weeks,  during  which  I 
have  seen  the  inside  of  the  theatre  but  twice,  and  then 
I  went  to  see  the  prince  1  and  not  the  play.  I  have 
dined  almost  without  exception,  at  my  own  solitary 
table,  and  spent  all  my  evenings  very  quietly  by  my- 
self. 

Marseilles,  Nov.  16,  1815.!  .  .  .  .  The  moment  I 
determined  upon  a  tour  to  Europe,  it  raised  a  hope  in 
my  mind  that  I  should  accompany  you  to  Greece,2  and 
when  I  wrote  to  you  during  my  confinement  in  the 
Lazaret,  I  could  hardly  restrain  myself  from  telling  you 
how  earnestly  I  desired  it.  .  .  .  If  then,  dear  G.,  my 
own  eagerness  has  not  misled  me,  and  it  would  really 
be  no  interference  with  your  plans  to  take  me  into  your 
party  and  let  me  go  with  you  to  "  Hail  the  bright  clime 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Gottingen. 

1  From  a  letter  of  October  6,    "  Four  the  counter  cause.     France  has  lost  her 

days  ago  the  Due  d'Angouleme  arrived  national  glory,  and  with  it  her  character, 

here,  since  which  the  streets  have  been  Be  assured  the  period  of  revolutions  has 

crowded  night  and  day,  white  flags  sus-  not  passed,  nothing   but   foreign   troops 

pended   from   every   window,    '  Vive   le  keeps  the  people  quiet." 
Roi '  shouted  at  every  corner,  and  every-         2  This  journey  to  Greece  was  never  ac- 

thing  done  and   said   to   show  their   at-  complished,  but  it  was,  for  some  months, 

tachment  to  the   Bourbons.     But  a  few  a   prominent   theme  of  his   correspond- 

moments  since   it  was  all  the  same   for  ence. 


40  JOSErH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1815. 

of  battle  and  song"  I  shall  always  be  ready  at  any  time, 
after  that  which  you  have  named,  to  wander  with  you 
by  "  Delphi's  sacred  side."  ...  I  meet  daily  with  Greeks 
from  every  part  of  the  Levant,  the  Morea,  Attica,  and 
other  places  on  the  continent  as  well  as  the  islands, 
and  from  them  I  get  some  particulars  that  may  possibly 
be  useful.  I  must  let  you  know  too,  that  I  am  not 
wholly  given  up  to  accounts  of  loss  and  gain.  I  go 
three  times  a  week  to  the  Lycee  to  say  my  lesson  in 
Romaic,  nor  am  I  wholly  unmindful  of  the  masters  of 
the  ancient  lay,  Homer  has  breakfasted  with  me  al- 
most every  morning  since  I  came  to  France. 

Marseilles,  Dec.  17,  181 5.*  .  .  .  .  Artisans  and  men 
of  hands  are  necessary  in  all  voyages  of  discovery,  as 
well  as  savans  and  men  of  heads  ;  in  the  former  capac- 
ity alone  do  I  hope  to  be  serviceable  to  you ;  let  the 
business  part  of  our  expedition  be  committed  to  me  ; 
the  merchants  of  Italy  are  all  personally  known  to  me 
already,  also  a  partner  of  a  house  in  Smyrna,  and 
another  in  Constantinople Beside,  as  I  have  be- 
fore mentioned  to  you,  every  day  gives  me  an  oppor- 
tunity of  making  inquiries  of  the  Greeks,  and  others 
familiar  with  the  country,  relative  to  many  things  which 
we  ought  to  know.  ...  I  am  going  on  with  my  Romaic, 
as  well  as  I  can,  my  progress,  however,  is  not  very  rapid. 
I  find  no  one  here  who  knows  much  about  it,  and  I 
have  been  delayed  several  days  for  want  of  books  to 
help  me,  which  I  am  now  expecting  every  moment  from 
Paris.     Italian  and  Spanish  are  regular  objects  of  my 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Gottingen. 


Age  29.]  MARSEILLES.  4 1 

attention,  as  far  as  I  can  be  regular  in  anything,  and 
in  these  I  succeed  better  than  in  most  others,  as  I 
devote  the  hours  from  9  to  1 1  p.  m.  to  them. 

Marseilles,  December  30,  181 5.*  .  .  .  .  The  truth  is,  if 
I  did  not  love  you  much  better  than  my  own  reputation, 
I  should  not  write  at  all,  while  I  remain  in  this  place  of 
Boeotian  dullness.  I  have  not  gained  a  new  idea  by  a 
three  months'  residence  in  it.  Let  me  state  to  you  a 
few  facts  to  show  how  entirely  commerce  has  hold  of 
the  hearts  of  all  its  inhabitants.  First,  no  books  can 
be  procured  here,  except  such  as  are  connected  with, 
or  current  in  trade.  A  Greek  classic  of  any  value  is  not 
to  be  found,  nor  any  works  of  science,  not  even  of  their 

own  philosophers   in   any  branch   but  chemistry 

Whenever  a  stray  volume  of  Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  or 
any  other  outlandish  tongue,  falls  into  the  hands  of  the 
hawkers  of  literature,  it  is  brought  to  me,  as  invariably 
as  if  I  were  the  only  person  in  the  city  that  thought  it 
of  any  value.  Secondly,  in  this  place,  a  little  removed 
from  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  on  the  border  and  near  the 
centre  of  the  Mediterranean,  carrying  on  trade  with 
all  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  with  European  and 
Asiatic  Turkey,  with  Egypt  and  the  whole  coast  of 
Barbary,  and  in  every  respect  so  advantageously  situ- 
ated for  the  prosecution  of  Natural  History,  Geology, 
and  Mineralogy,  —  no  society  has  ever  been  formed  for 
the  promotion  of  these  objects,  and  not  an  individual 
directs  his  attention  to  them.  These  are  not  vague 
assertions  which    I  make,  my  information  has  been  ob- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


42  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1S.5. 

taincd  from  persons  who  must  know.  There  is,  to  be 
sure,  an  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  but  it  exists 
only  in  name.  I  am  very  particularly  acquainted  with 
Dr.  Lautard,  who  is  the  president  of  it.  By  him  I  was 
told  they  had  done,  and  were  doing  just  nothing;  that 
learning  and  science  were  not  in  repute  in  Marseilles, 
and  that  it  was  dangerous  to  be  thought  a  savant  here. 
I  know  very  well  and  often  meet  three  or  four  of  the 
first  lawyers  in  the  city,  and  I  have  found  them  ignorant 
of  everything,  but  their  metier.  .... 

There  happen  to  be  at  this  time  in  Marseilles,  a 
number  of  Spanish  emigrants.  Among  them  are  several 
men  of  learning,  members  of  the  Academy  of  Madrid, 
men  who  have  left  their  own  country  in  consequence 
of  the  restraints  which  the  inquisitions  have  put  upon 
free  inquiry.  These  gentlemen,  rejoiced  to  find  any 
one  who  is  even  interested  in  literary  and  scientific  con- 
versation, meet  quite  often  in  my  room  ;  during  the 
present  month  they  have  spent  at  least  two  evenings 
in  each  week  with  me,  and  they  all  entertain  the  same 
opinion  of  the  place  as  I  do.  Their  conversation  is  full 
of  interest,  and,  were  it  not  tinctured  a  little  with  the 
infidelity  which   marks  all   the  philosophy  of  the   day, 

I  should  think  it  very  improving I  hope  I  shall 

learn  nothing  bad  from  these  illuminati ;  one  advantage, 
which  I  am  sure  of  deriving,  is  improvement  in  the 
Spanish  language,  two  out  of  the  four  who  are  my 
regular  visitors,  being  the  superintendents  of  the  last 
edition  of  the  Dictionary  and  Grammar  of  the  Academy.1 

1  In  a  letter  of  the  same  date  to  Pro-     Cogswell  says  :  "Having  had  some  con- 
fessor Farrar  of   Harvard  College,  Mr.     versations  with   you   on   the   subject   of 


Age  29.]  STREET  SCENES.  43 

Marseilles,  February  16,  181 6.*.  ...  I  have  only  to 
cross  my  room  to  the  window  and  I  behold  such  outre 
figures  and  strange  manners  and  varied  costumes,  that 
I  doubt  not  I  could  keep  you  laughing  to  the  bottom  of 
my  third  page,  were  I  to  describe  half  the  wonders  which 
present  themselves  this  very  moment  in  the  street  which 
I  overlook.  You  would  see  the  petit  maitre  of  the 
ancient  regime  in  his  white  smalls,  sky  blue  silk  hose 
with  red  clocks,  embroidered  vest  and  laced  coat,  with 
hat  in  hand  making  his  morning  parade  ;  and  the  mod- 
ern fop  just  out  of  a  Paris  band-box,  equally  ludicrous 
in  appearance  ;  my  lady  mayoress,  decked  out  like  Flora, 
abroad  in  her  barouche ;  and  numberless  fair  grisettes, 
with  their  matron-like  caps,  and  fanciful  shawls  tied  into 
their  apron  strings ;  at  this  corner  a  group  of  Greeks  in 
their  capotes,  at  that  another  of  Asiatic  Turks,  with  their 
turbans  and  alhacks ;  here  Egyptian  mamelukes,  and 
there  Barbary  Jews  ;  on  this  side  poverty  and  rags,  on 
that  ribbons  and  stars  ;  in  a  word  all  the  characters  that 
make  up  the  roles  in  the  favorite  comedy,  now  playing 
in  Germany,  of  "the  Fairy  Amandalindasurvandagin- 
abilloditara,"  or  the  adventures  of  Harlequin  before  and 
after  his  death.     A  walk  on  the  boulevards  would   help 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


climate,  I  thought  it  might  not  be  unin-  rar  is  not  unknown  to  him.     In  one  of 

teresting  to  you  to  look  over  the  meteor-  my  visits  to  the  Observatory  he  turned 

ological  tables  of  Marseilles  for  a  month  me  to  his  minutes,  in  which  he  had  the 

or  two.     Those  enclosed  are  taken  from  thermometrical    observations     made    at 

the  records  of  the  Observatory,  which  is  Cambridge  by  that  gentleman."     These 

superintended  by  a  gentleman  of  consid-  letters  show  how  eagerly  Mr.  Cogswell 

erable  science,  with  whom  I  have  been  sought    all    kinds   of   knowledge,    even 

acquainted  while   here,  by  the   name  of  when  the  circumstances  of  his  life  were 

Blampain.     The  fame  of  Professor  Far-  most  adverse  to  such  pursuits. 


44  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [l8i6. 

me  still  more.  There  I  should  not  only  find  the  same 
motley  mixture  of  tribes  and  dresses,  but  as  they  com- 
mand an  extensive  prospect,  I  could  add  to  the  scenery 
the  dark  waves  of  the  Mediterranean,  which  would  call 
up  the  shades  of  the  mighty  that  once  inhabited  its  bor- 
ders  What  a  train  of  associations,  too,  would  be 

brought  up  by  casting  my  eyes  on  the  one  side  to  the 
long  chain  of  the  Pyrenees,  or  on  the  other  to    the  lofty 

Alps  and  broken  Apennines 

I  hope  soon   to  finish  my  law  business  in    Marseilles, 

and  be  at  liberty  to  follow  my  own  inclinations My 

health  is  better,  or  rather  it  is  not  so  bad,  better  implies 
good,  and  there  is  nothing  good  about  it. 


Marseilles,  February  18,  1816.*  .  .  .  .  It  is  time  for 
Cambridge  to  take  a  rank  above  a  mere  preparatory 
school,  and  to  do  this  she  must  call  to  her  aid  all  the 
talents  she  can  command  ; *  she  has  nothing  to  fear  from 
the  cry  of  heresy,  if  she  can  but  attain  a  decided  eleva- 
tion above  all  the  other  literary  institutions  of  the  coun- 
try. All  our  early  colleges  were  founded  for  the  express 
purpose  of  forming  ministers,  not  scholars,  and  it  is 
unaccountable  that  the  system  of  education  has  been 
persevered  in  till  this  time,  which  never  required,  even 
of  the  instructors,  any  critical  knowledge  of  the  language 
they  professed  to  teach.     Such  men  as  Correa,2  no  one 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Gottingen. 

1  Written   before    Mr.    Cogswell   had  2  Correa   de    Serra,  a   Portuguese   ot 

been  at  any  European  University,  or  had  extraordinary  talent   and  cultivation,  al- 

had  opportunities  of  observing  European  ready  a  member  of  the  French  Institute 

modes  of  education.  (in  which  he  ultimately  was  made  mem- 


Age  29.]  UNIVERSITY  EDUCATION.  45 

supposes  would  be  of  any  service  to  boys  in  their  forms, 
but  no  university  can  ever  attain  a  reputation  without 
them ;  the  limits  which  a  student  fixes  for  his  attain- 
ments, are  not  confined  to  what  is  taught  him,  but  to 
what  the  most  learned  of  his  professors  is  supposed  to 
know ;  so  that  Correa,  if,  as  you  say,  he  should  do  noth- 
ing, would  be  a  more  powerful  excitement  to  ambition, 
and  the  means  of  producing  a  greater  number  of  fine 
scholars,  aye  ten  to  one,  than  the  most  laborious  drudge. 
A  strange  notion  prevails  at  Cambridge  against  lec- 
turing. If  the  institution  is  intended  to  be  a  mere 
school,  to  teach  the  elements  of  language,  and  the  first 
principles  of  science,  the  opinion  is  undoubtedly  correct; 
but  if,  in  addition,  they  have  higher  views,  and  would 
draw  to  them  men  who  are  making  learning  a  business 
of  life,  or  build  up  a  name  for  themselves,  they  must 
have  lecturers,  and  lecturers,  too,  who  can  keep  an  audi- 
ence awake. 


Marseilles,  March  19,  18 16.*  What  will  you  think 
of  my  stability  of  character,  my  dear  C,  when  you  find 
me  one  day  preparing  for  a  journey  over  the  Pyrenees, 
and  the  next  on  the  point  of  embarking  for  America? 
The  morning  after  I  last  wrote  you,  I  received  a  letter 
from  George,  communicating  his  intention  of  remaining 
another  year  at  Gottingen  ;  since  then  I  have  been  occu- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

ber  of  three  of  its  classes  or  academies,  himself  with  scientific  pursuits,  but  in  the 

a  very  rare  honor),  and  distinguished  in  course   of    1816   was   made    Portuguese 

Europe  for   his  acquirements.     He  was  Minister  to  the  United  States,  a  post  he 

at  this  time   in  Philadelphia,  occupying  held  for  some  years. 


46  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [i3i6. 

pied  in  deciding  whether  I  ought  to  continue  in  Europe, 
till  the  period  now  fixed  for  our  tour  to  Greece,  or  make 
my  friends  at  home  a  visit  in  the  mean  time,  and  have  at 
length  concluded  on  the  latter 

Marseilles,  April  i,  1816.*  .  .  .  .  On  or  about  the  8th 
of  this  month  I  expect  to  turn  my  face  toward  the  west- 
ern  shores  of  the  Atlantic You   shall  have  the 

reasons  which  influenced  me,  and  you  can  better  judge 
of  the  propriety  of  the  step.  A  well  established,  and 
highly  respectable  commercial  house,  in  this  place,  pro- 
posed to  me  a  connection  in  business  with  them,  on  con- 
ditions very  advantageous  to  myself,  not  requiring  of  me 
any  investment  of  capital,  and  allowing  me  one  third  of 
the  profits.1  ....  The  benefit  these  gentlemen  expect  to 
derive  from  my  name  is  the  securing  to  themselves  a 
portion  of  American  business,  and  they  did  not  hesitate 
a  moment  to  put  an  article  in  our  contract,  allowing  me 
to  absent  myself  from  Marseilles  as  soon  as  the  house 
was  known  to  be  connected  with  me  in  the  several  com- 
mercial cities  of  the  U.  S.  They  have  long  been  the 
correspondents  of  Mr.  Thorndike,  and  it  was  upon  his 
suggestion  that  they  proposed  to  me  to  join  them.  With 
all  the  apparent  advantages  that  this  connection  offered 
me,  I  did  not  think   it  safe   to  bind   myself,  definitively, 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Gottingen. 

1  Several  manuscript  copies  of  a  circu-  G.  Cogswell  of  Boston,  for  the  transac- 

lar   signed   by   Liguier   et   Dossue,    and  tion  of  American  business  ;  and  he  was 

dated  Marseilles,  April  1S16,  were  found  mentioned  as  being  able  to  give  informa- 

among  Mr.  Cogswell's  papers.     In  these  tion   about  the  state   of  the  market   in 

it  was  stated   that   the   firm    had  made  Marseilles, 
commercial  arrangements  with  Mr.  Jos. 


Age  29]        DEPARTURE  FROM  MARSEILLES.  47 

without  consulting  persons  of  cooler  judgment  and 
soberer  reason  than  I  have;  if,  therefore,  on  my  arrival 
at  home,  I  do  not  think  it  expedient  to  return  to  Mar- 
seilles, I  am  at  liberty  to  notify  them  that   I  choose   to 

dissolve  the   obligation   here   made I    made    no 

arrangements  for  so  long  an  absence,  and  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  I  should  put  my  own  affairs  in  a  better 
condition  than  they  now  are I  have  also  my  bus- 
iness with  Mr.  Gray  to  settle,  and  some  hopes  of  pre- 
venting a  speculation,   in   which    I  engaged  from    this 

place,  from  being  altogether  ruinous 

I  need  not  tell  you,  my  dear  G.,  how  many  a  pang  it 
has  cost  me  to  leave  the  continent  without  seeing  you  ; 
no  consideration  would  have  induced  me  to  do  it,  did  I 
not  expect  to  return  immediately,  and  had  I  thought  of 
it  two  months  since,  all  the  barriers  which  are  placed 
between  us  would  have  been  forced,  and  the  banks  of 
the  Elbe  or  the  Rhine  been  my  point  of  embarkation, 
instead  of  the  Rhone. 

Marseilles,  April  13,  18 16.*  My  dear  G.,  I  have 
but  one  moment  allowed  me  to  send  you  my  adieux,  — 
an  order  has  just  come  to  me  to  repair  on  board  ship. 
....  Be  assured  I  shall  be  with  you  in  Gottingen  at  the 
season  of  the  vintage. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Gottingen. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Third  Voyage  to  Europe. — Tutor  to  Mr.  A.  Thorndike. —  Winter 
in  Gottingen. — Excursion  to  Weimar,  Dresden,  and  Berlin. —  In- 
terview with  Goethe.  —  18 16-17. 

T  PSWICH,  July  14,  1816*  When  I  parted  from 
*-  you,1  my  dear  sister,  I  promised  myself  the  pleasure 
of  soon  meeting  you  again,  and  making  another  visit  in 
the  circle  of  my  beloved  friends  in  Portland,  but  herein 
my  lot  is  disappointment,  as  in  all  my  other  hopes  in 
life.  On  Friday  last  I  agreed  to  devote  myself  anew  to 
an  exile  from  my  native  land,  and  expect,  in  the  course 

of  four  weeks,  again  to  bid  adieu  to  all  1  love My 

destination  is  GSttingen,  where  I  expect  to  remain,  till 
a  year  from  the  coming  October  at  least,  and  longer  if 
George  and  Edward  2  do  not  undertake  their  Grecian 
tour.  If  they  do,  I  shall  accompany  them.  I  go  out  in 
company  with  a  son  of  Mr.  Thorndike's,  who  is  to  be 
oraduated  at  Cambridge  this  Commencement,  and  con- 
tinue with  him  while  he  remains  abroad,  for  which  his 
father  gives  me  $1,500  per  annum,  and  pays  my  ex- 
penses. This  is  connected  with  a  plan  which  the  Cor- 
poration of  the  College  have  in  hand,  to  give  me  a  per- 
manent residence  there  on  my  return 

*  To  Mrs.  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 
1  After  a  flying  visit  to  Portland.  -  George  Ticknor  and  Edward  Everett. 


Age  29.]       BIDS   FAREWELL    TO   HIS  MOTHER.  49 

I  am  now  going  to  N.  York  and  Philadelphia  to  be 
absent  10  or  12  days.  When  I  return  I  shall  be  in  Exe- 
ter, and,  if  time  will  permit,  continue  my  journey  as  far 
as  Portland. 

Ipswich,  August  27,  1816.*  Last  night,  my  dear 
brother,  I  returned  from  Boston,  weary  and  sorrowful,  to 
take  a  last  farewell  of  the  tenderest  of  mothers.  At  the 
very  moment  when  she  is  summoned  to  depart  to  an- 
other world,  I  am  compelled  to  leave  her  dying  bed.  I 
have  never  known  but  one  greater  trial.     On  Thursday 

I  embark  for  Europe The  illness  under  which  my 

mother  is  laboring  arises  from  a  tumor  on  the  cheek 

A  single  hope  remains  that  the  removal  of  this  excres- 
cence may  stay  the  rapid  progress  of  decay,  and  this  is  a 
very  feeble  one.1  .... 

The  reproaches  contained  in  dear  Daveis'  letter  of 
August  2  2d  would  have  grieved  and  wounded  me,  had 
I  not  perceived  they  were  those  of  love  ;  had  he  known 
how  incessantly  I  have  been  on  the  wing  for  the  last  six 
weeks,  he  would  not  have  wondered  at  my  silence.  No 
mailcoach  nor  steamboat  ever  equalled  the  rapidity  and 
constancy  of  my  motions  ;  not  a  single  day,  nor  hour, 
nor  minute,  even,  have  I  been  at  rest  during  that  time. 
I  can  give  you  but  little  account  of  what  I  propose  to 

myself  during  my  absence,  and  no  idea  of  its  length 

My  engagement  is  for  two  years  only,  with  the  right  on 
my  part  of  extending  it  as  much  longer  as  I  choose 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


1  She  did,  in  fact,  recover  from  this  local  affection. 
7 


50  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  t'8'7- 

After  so  many  years  of  wandering  I  have  never  acquired 
the  feelings  of  a  citizen  of  the  world  ;  my  country,  my 
friends,  and  I  would  add  my  home,  if  I  had  one,  are  as 
dear  to  me  as  ever,  and  so  they  will  always  be,  let  my 
lot  be  cast  where  it  may 


On  the  passage  out  to  Holland  in  a  brig  from  Bos- 
ton, September  1816,  the  vessel  encountered  a  gale  of 
wind  in  the  English  Channel,  and  was  within  a  few  min- 
utes of  being  wrecked  on  the  Goodwin  Sands,  the  cap- 
tain having  mistaken  the  lights  on  the  English  coast. 
Coming  on  deck  just  at  the  moment,  Mr.  Cogswell  saw 
the  danger,  and  told  the  captain  if  he  did  not  alter 
his  course  instantaneously  he  would  be  ashore.  It  was 
done,  and  the  vessel  saved.  The  gale  continued  all 
night,  and  more  than  a  hundred  sail  were  wrecked  in 
the  Channel.1 


Gottingen,  February  16,    181 7.*  ...  .  On    the    1st 

day  of  October  I  landed  in  Holland The  residue 

of  October  was  spent  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  at  Co- 
logne, Coblentz,  Mentz  and  Frankfort,  and  in  making 
the  journey  from  the  last  named  place  to  this,  where  we 
arrived  Nov.  1.  George  and  E.  were  then  in  Saxony, 
and   did   not    return   until   the    5th I    need    not 

*  To  C-  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  This    account     is    taken    from    the  and  had  but   a  hair's-breadth  escape  of 

"  Hairbreadth  Escapes."     In  a  letter  to  shipwreck    upon    the    Goodwins,    after 

Mrs.   Prescott,  January  21,  from  Gottin-  which  forty  hours  carried   us   in  safety 

gen,  he  says  :  "  Sunday  the  29th  of  Sep-  over  the  North  Sea,  and  brought  us  to 

tember,  we  passed  the  Cliffs  of  Dover,  anchor  within  the  Texel." 


Age  3o.]    HIS   ILLNESS;    DEATH  OF  HIS   MOTHER.     5 1 

mention  to  you  how  my  time  was  occupied  after  G. 
and  E.  returned;  until  the  11th,  when  we  entered  our 
regular  lodgings  and  began  the  studies  of  the  Semester, 
they  were  continually  with  me 

On  the  nth  I  turned  all  my  forces  to  German,  attend- 
ing at  the  same  time  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  Modern 
Arts  in  Italian,  and  one  on  European  Statistics  in 
French.  When  I  saw  myself,  fitted  out  in  the  style  of 
a  German  student,  with  a  large  portfolio  under  my  arm, 
trudging  off  to  my  lesson,  with  the  regularity  and  punc- 
tuality of  a  school  boy  who  fears  the  birch,  it  seemed  that 
I  must  have  gone  back  several  years  in  life.  At  first  I 
knew  not  how  to  reconcile  myself  to  the  situation  of  an- 
other period  of  pupilage,  but  habit  effects  anything.  I 
soon  made  my  tasks,  construed  my  German  and  sub- 
mitted to  correction,  with  as  much  docility  as  if  I  had 
never  known  what  it  was  to  be  myself  a  teacher  and  a 
governor 

On  the  14th  of  Dec.  a  violent  ague  attacked  me 
which  was  rendered  worse  by  the  removal  of  a  tooth. 
After  a  week  of  extreme  suffering  I  obtained  relief,  but 
it  was  a  relief  to  be  followed 1  by  severer  pain 

During  my  illness  G.  had  received  a  letter  from  his 
mother,  informing  him  of  the  afflictive  bereavement2 
which  had  befallen  me,  and,  at  the  same  time,  one  for  me 
from  Dr.  M'Kean,  communicating  this  sorrowful  event 
By  the  direction  of  my  physician  I  was  kept  ignorant 
of  it,  until  I  had  recovered  some  little  strength  to  bear 
the  shock.     Thus  you  see  sickness  and  sorrow  have  vis- 

1  He   was    ill,   at    this    time,   for   six        2  The  death  of  his  mother, 
weeks. 


52  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

ited  me,  in  quick  succession,  during  the  last  two  months  : 
from  the  former  I  am  now  quite  restored,  the  latter 
does  not  yield  so  easily  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  physi- 
cian  You  never  knew,  my  dear  D.  what  were  the 

feelings  of  a  man,  who  has  no  home  in  the  world,  who 
sees  himself  cut  off,  as  it  were,  from  all  connection  with 

the  earth 

Thorndike  behaves  with  perfect  propriety,  is  very 
regular,  studies  well,  and  gives  me  no  more  trouble  than 
any  other  companion  would  do. 

....  *  The  four  belonging  to  our  colony,  or  to  use  the 
technical  word,  our  Landsmannschaft,  assemble  generally 
every  evening,  and  I  will  venture  to  assert  that  there  is 
no  Landsmannschaft  belonging  to  the  University,  not 
excepting  the  Dutch,  composed  of  only  two,  in  which 
greater  harmony  prevails.  Now  and  then  we  get  little 
Stephen  l  in  from  the  country,  which  we  consider  an  im- 
portant addition  in  every  respect,  for  he  is  a  most  de- 
lightful boy. 

GEORGE  TICKNOR  TO  MRS.  E.  TICKNOR. 

Gottingen,  February  2,  1817. 

In  your  last  letter,  Dear  Mother,  you  told  me  of  the 
death  of  Cogswell's  mother,  and  the  next  day  a  letter 
came  to  him,  from  Mr.  McKean,  containing  the  account 
of  it.  Cogswell  was  then  ill,  and  I  kept  the  intelligence 
from  him,  at  the  request  of  his  physicians,  until  a  few 

*  To  Mrs.  E.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  Stephen  Higginson  Perkins  (son  of  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Perkins,  of  Boston),  then 
at  school  near  Gottingen. 


Age  3o.]  A   SUDDEN  BLOW.  53 

days  ago.  You  who  have  seen  the  effects  of  affliction 
upon  him,  will  know  how  terrible  the  blow  was. 
It  was  entirely  unexpected.  When  he  came  from 
America,  his  mother  was  ill,  with  a  topical  complaint  in 
her  face,  but  she  soon  recovered  from  it,  and  his  letters 
had  told  him  only  of  her  health,  and  spirits,  and  as  her 
final  illness  was  only  of  three  days,  he  had  not  the  slight- 
est warning.  I  found  it  impossible  to  prepare  him.  At 
several  different  times,  I  endeavored  to  talk  in  a  tone  of 
unusual  sadness  about  home,  —  the  changes  that  must 
undoubtedly  happen  there  before  our  return,  etc.,  etc. 
—  but  his  kind  temper  considered  all  this,  as  only  a 
proof  that  I  was  melancholy  myself,  and  therefore, 
instead  of  catching  the  hue  of  my  remarks,  he  immedi- 
ately became  more  gay  than  usual,  that  he  might  cheer 
me.  The  blow  thus  fell  upon  him  with  terrible  sudden- 
ness' and  severity,  and  during  a  part  of  the  following 
night,  I  was  much  alarmed  at  the  effect  it  had  upon  his 
nerves,  already  weakened  by  illness.  But  the  time  that 
has  passed  since,  has  enabled  him  to  collect  his  thoughts, 
and  higher  hopes,  and  principles,  which  in  a  heart  like 
his,  cannot  fail  after  the  first  shock  is  over,  to  exercise 
their  full  influence,  and  they  have  so  restored  him,  that 
a  stranger  would  seldom  see  the  expression  of  sorrow. 


Gottingen, March  9,  1 817*  .  .  .  .  I  have  been  led  to 
believe  that  nothing  remains  for  me  in  life,  but  to  pre- 
pare for  a  traveller  in  some  parts  hitherto  little  explored, 
where  Science  will  be  more  use  to  me  than   Philology, 

*  To  Prof.  Farrar,  Cambridge,  U.  S. 


54  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

History  or  Politics,  and  therefore  I  lay  the  groundwork 
for  more  thorough  geological,  mineralogical  and  botan- 
ical knowledge.  I  have  lived  long  enough  upon  my 
heart,  I  must  begin  to  live  upon  my  mind.  A  man  who 
is  bound  to  a  particular  spot,  by  a  family  and  a  circle  of 
friends,  cannot  be  expected  to  prosecute  researches  into 
wildernesses  and  deserts,  where  dangers  threaten  him 
every  hour ;  but  a  man  like  myself,  who  is  left  in  the 
prime  of  his  life,  almost  alone  in  the  world,  who  breaks 
no  ties  and  gives  pain  to  no  heart  if  he  wanders  as  wild 
as  the  lion  of  the  forest,  such  a  man,  I  say,  is  bound  to 
sacrifice  ease  and  comfort,  to  bear  fatigue  and  privation, 
to  deaden  his  affections  and  roam  in  solitudes,  to  sacri- 
fice health  and  life,  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-beings.  I 
think  I  hear  the  call  and  I  shall  prepare  to  obey  it 

Gottingen,   March   16,^1817*     Sunday   Eve 

I  have  been  out  this  evening  to  make  what  we  should 
call  at  home,  a  sociable  visit,  where  I  staid  till  ten,  and 
then  brought  G.  to  my  room  with  me,  and  kept  him  till 

past  eleven The  social  visit  was  made  to  Mad. 

Sartorius,  who  has  been  sick  for  three  or  four  weeks, 
and  still  receives  her  company  in  her  chamber.  Her- 
self, her  husband  a  Prof,  in  the  philosophical  faculty, 
Prof.  Welcker,  also  of  the  same  faculty,  George  and 
myself  were  seated  round  a  little  tea  table,  and  the 
evening  was  passed  in  a  more  rational,  friendly  and 
home  like  manner  than  any  one  I  have  spent  in  German 

society They  amused  us  with  some  very  pleasant 

anecdotes    of  their   own    literary  men,  particularly    of 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis.  Portland. 


Age  30.]  ANECDOTE  OF  GOETHE.  55 

Goethe,  with  whom  they  are  intimate.  One  of  these 
anecdotes  shows  so  exactly  the  character  of  this  great, 
but  insufferably  vain  and  affected  man,  that  I  give  it 
to  you Some  fifteen  or  twenty  years  since,  Con- 
stant, so  well  known  in  the  literary  world,  went  to  Wei- 
mar, the  Ferrara  and  the  Florence  of  Germany,  to  see 
the  brilliant  geniuses  which  then  gave  such  splendor 
to  the  court  of  the  Grand  Duchess.  Being  introduced 
to  Goethe,  he  began  in  the  style  of  a  true  Frenchman  to 
load  him  with  flattery,  saying  that  the  world  was  won- 
dering at  the  stupendous  productions  of  his  genius, 
that  he  had  secured  to  himself  immortal  fame,  etc.,  etc. 
Goethe  turned  his  large,  fiery  eyes  upon  Constant,  and 
replied,  "  I  know  it,  I  know  all  that,  I  know  too  that 
the  world  regards  me  as  a  carpenter,  who  has  built  a 
ship  of  war,  of  the  first  rate,  upon  a  mountain,  thou- 
sands of  miles  from  the  ocean  —  but  the  water  will  rise, 
my  ship  will  float,  and  bear  her  builder  in  triumph  where 
human  genius  never  reached  before."  This  is  vanity 
which  can  have  no  parallel.  Next  week  I  shall  be  at 
Weimar  and  probably  see  this  strange  beast,  and  then 
perhaps  I  may  tell  you  something  more  of  him. 

On  my  way  here  from  Frankfort  I  turned  aside  from 
the  route  to  pass  by  Wezlar,  and  pluck  a  sprig  or  two 
from  the  lime  trees,  which  shade  the  grave  of  the  young 
Jerusalem,  and,  by  a  strange  accident,  I  could  have  pre- 
sented them  to  Charlotte  '  two  days  afterward,  as  I  was 

1  The  young  Jerusalem  and  Charlotte  of   Charlotte   Buff, —  Mad.    Kestner, — 

were  real  personages  whose  names  had  and  qualities  in  her  character  and  person 

been  publicly  associated  with    Goethe's  were   described   by  Goethe   in   the  first 

romance   Die    Leiden   des  jungen    Wer-  part  of  the  story,  and  he  wove  into  the 

tier,  a  book  which  created   great  enthu-  second   part,  the   history   of  the   youth 

siasm  at  that  time.     Incidents  in  the  life  named  Jerusalem,  who   committed   sui- 


56  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

introduced  to  her  in  the  library,  the  first  day  of  my 
arrival  here.  She  is  now  arrived  at  that  period  when 
all  the  fire  of  youth  and  of  love  is  faded  from  the  eye, 
and  still  she  has  an  eye  that  is  not  dumb,  I  can  con- 
ceive that  it  must  have  been  eloquent  in  other  days 


Berlin,  April  17,  181 7.*  .  .  .  .  I  went  to  Weimar 
almost  for  the  sole  purpose  of  seeing  Goethe,  but  he 
was  absent  on  a  visit  to  Jena,  where  I  pursued  him  and 
obtained  an  audience.  From  all  that  I  had  heard  of 
him,  I  was  prepared  to  meet  with  the  most  repulsive 
reception,  but,  as  I  actually  experienced  the  directly 
opposite,  you  will  naturally  infer  that  I  felt  not  a  little 
flattered,  and  therefore  will  not  be  surprised  if  I  should 
give  you  a  more  favorable  picture  of  him  than  you  find 
in  the  "  Edinburgh  Review."  I  sent  him  my  letters  of 
introduction,  with  a  note,  asking  when  he  would  allow 
me  to  wait  upon  him.  In  one  of  the  letters  it  was  ob- 
served that  I  had  some  fondness  for  mineralogy,  and 
was  desirous  of  seeing  the  great  cabinet,  belonging  to 
the  society  of  which  he  is  President,  at  Jena.  In  a  few 
moments  he  returned  me  an  answer,  that  he  would  meet 
me  in  the  rooms  of  the  Society  at  noon,  and  there  show 
me  all  that  was  to  be  seen.     I  liked  this,  as  it  evinced 

*  To  Mrs.  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

cide,    with   pistols   borrowed   from    Mr.  ence   with    him,    before    and   after    the 

Kestner,   for    love   of   another   woman,  publication   of    Werther,  has  been   pub- 

This  association,  and  the  freedom  Goethe  lished.     Goethe  und  Werther,  etc   Stutt- 

used   in  bringing   their  private  interests  gard,  1S54.     The    whole   story  is   given 

before  the  world,  annoyed  the  Kestners  by  Lewes,  in  the  Life   of  Goethe   and  by 

extremely,    and    cooled   their   friendship  Mrs.  F.  Kemble  in    her    Year  of  Conso- 

for  Goethe   himself.     Their  correspond-  lotion. 


Age  3o.]  INTERVIEW  WITH  GOETHE.  57 

some  degree  of  modesty  in  him,  inasmuch  as  it  implied 
that  there  was  something,  beside  himself,  worthy  of  my 
notice,  and  as  it  was  very  polite,  too,  in  offering  to  take 
upon  himself  the  trouble  of  going  through  the  explana- 
tion of  a  collection,  filling  numerous  and  large  apart- 
ments. At  noon,  then,  I  went  to  meet  this  great  giant 
of  German  literature,  the  creator  and  sole  governor  of 
their  taste.  His  exterior  was  in  every  respect  different 
from  the  conceptions  I  had  formed.  A  grand  and 
graceful  form,  worthy  of  a  knight  of  the  days  of  chiv- 
alry, with  a  dignity  of  manners  that  marked  the  court 
rather  than  the  closet,  such  as  belong  to  Goethe,  are 
not  often  the  external  characteristics  of  a  man  of  letters. 
Soon  after  being  introduced  to  him,  with  the  politeness 
of  a  real  gentleman,  he  turned  the  conversation  to 
America,  and  spoke  of  its  hopes  and  promises,  in  a 
manner  that  showed  it  had  been  the  subject  of  his  in- 
quiries, and  made  juster  and  more  rational  observations, 
upon  its  literary  pretensions  and  character,  than  I  ever 
heard  from  any  man  in  Europe.  We  talked,  also,  of 
English  and  German  literature.  I  told  him  of  the  in- 
terest we  were  now  taking  in  the  latter,  and  found  a 
very  convenient  opportunity  to  introduce  a  few  words 
of  compliment  to  himself,  which  was  the  least  return 
I  could  make  for  his  civility. 

That  you  may  not  think  I  have  made  too  great  prog- 
ress in  German,  I  just  observe  that  this  conversation, 
which  lasted  an  hour,  was  carried  on  in  French.  I 
suppose  I  might  have  managed  the  former;  but  I  was 
afraid  of  going  wrong,  sometimes,  with  the  titles  of  the 
Herr  Minister  von  Goethe,  and  therefore  proposed  to 


58  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

him  to  adopt  French,  where  I  had  only  "  Votre  Excel- 
lence "  to  handle. 

After  we  finished  our  literary  discussions  he  carried 
me  through  the  whole  cabinet,  and  explained  to  me  all 
its  remarkables,  with  a  facility  that  could  not  have  been 
exceeded  by  a  Professor  of  Mineralogy.  When  we 
parted  he  invited  me  to  call  on  him,  whenever  I  should 
be  in  Weimar,  and  so  managed  the  whole  interview  I 
had  with  him,  that  I  left  him  inclined  to  enter  the  lists 
in  his  defense,  if  I  should  ever  have  occasion 

*  In  Jena,1  I  had  a  fine  chance  at  Goethe We 

caught  him  at  Jena  in  consequence  of  his  having  quar- 
relled with  Duke  K.  at  Weimar,  about  the  admission 
of  a  player  and  his  dog  upon  the  stage.  G.  was  dis- 
affected and  vexed  that  it  was  done  in  spite  of  his  opin- 
ion, and  so  took  himself  off  to  Jena  to  cool  himself 
down,  and  perhaps  we  owe  to  this  the  very  favorable 
reception  we  obtained.2  At  Weimar  we  spent  two  days 
very  agreeably  with  Froriep,  Bertuch,  Priemar,  etc. 


Berlin,  April  21,  18 17*  ....  In  Berlin  we  have 
seen  first  Wolf,  who  has  been  with  us  a  great  deal, 
and  employed  most  of  the  time  in  abusing  everybody, 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Paris. 

1  Same  date  as  previous  letter.  very  gracious  —  talked  of  America  and 

2  The  account  in  his  diary  runs  thus  :  its  hopes  and  its  prospects,  discovered  a 
"  Went  with  him  (Eichstaedt)  to  the  minute  knowledge  of  its  physical  and 
mineral  cabinet,  to  meet  Goethe  there —  moral  character.  Spoke  of  Boston  and 
introduced  to  him  —  person  large  and  its  local  situation,  —  observed  that  the 
good,  —  about  six  ft.  —  countenance  ex-  productions  of  Am.  had  a  character 
pressive,  his  eye  large,  gray,  —  manners  different  from  those  of  other  continents, 


Age  30.]  VISIT  TO   BERLIN.  59 

and  us,  for  wanting  to  see  any  one  beside  himself;  sec- 
ond Buttmann,  and  Lichtenstein,  and  Weiss,  and  Lenk 
and  Becker,  beside  many  others  in  a  club  where  we 
dined  on  Saturday  invited  by  Dr.  Meyer.1  ....  Yester- 
day forenoon  I  passed  an  hour  with  De  Savigny,  much 
to  my  edification,  he  let  me  into  a  secret  or  two  that  I 
did  not  understand  before.  We  dined  with  Solly,2 
he  introduced  us  to  the  English  Minister3  who  has 
been  uncommonly  attentive  to  us.  We  dined  with  him 
on  Friday  and  he  does  not  permit  us  to  go  from  Berlin 
until  after  six,  this  evening,  as  he  insists  upon  our  dining 

with  him  again I   would    prefer   passing   a    few 

months  here  before  any  other  place  I  have  seen  in  Ger- 
many, because  I  am  convinced  it  would  be  politically 
more  instructive ;  man  is  a  little  more  of  an  active 
being  here  than  in  most  other  parts  of  this  country, 
and  has  some  other  instruments  of  operation  beside 
books.4 

—  crystallizations  different,  larger,  nn  a  drinking    clubs     at    home.       Buttmann 

greater    scale,    etc.  —  showed     us     the  made  a  short  speech  about  the  Gen.  who 

whole  cabinet  of  the  mineralogical  soci-  was  present,  which  excited  much  laugh- 

ety  of  wh.    he   is  the   head  —  explained  ter." 

all  with  great  care  and  apparent  knowl-  2  No    doubt    the    English    merchant 

edge,  and  was  in  every  respect  agreeable  Edward  Solly,  whose  very  valuable  col- 

and  polite."  lection   of    paintings   was   purchased   in 

Some    correspondence    followed    this  1821,  for  the  Berlin  Gallery, 

first  meeting,  as  we   find  July  26,  1818,  3  Mr.  Rose,  who  had  been  previously, 

"  Yesterday  I  had  a  letter  from  Goethe,  for  a  few  months,  English  Minister  to  the 

in  which  he  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  United  States, 

of  '  Cleaveland's  Mineralogy.'  "  4  A  week  later,  writing  from  Gottingen 

The   story   of   the    quarrel    with    the  he  says,  "  Compared  with  Berlin,  Dres- 

Grand  Duke  is  given  by   Lewes  in  the  den  had  no  interest  for  me.     I  like  pic- 

Life  of  Goethe.  tures  and  statues,  but  they  are  dumb,  — 

1  Extract  from  diary.   "  April  19,  1817.  there,  nothing  is  to  be  seen  of  the  chemi- 

Saturday     At  3,  dined  at  Buttmannische  cal  process  which  is  now  going  on,  out 

Gesellschaft.   Mostly  savans — some  mil-  of  which  some  strange  combinations  will 

itary  officers  —  General  Gneisenau,  —  as  be  formed,  I  think." 
much   noise  and  crying   out    as   in   our 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Gottingen,  Summer  of  1817.  —  Trip  to  Hamburg.  —  Excursion  to 
Hau  Mountains. — Mineralogy.  —  Studies  in  the  Library  of  the 
University. 

f~*  OTTINGEN,  Friday  Morn.,  23d  May  [181 7.]* 

^"^  I  go  on  very  regularly,  rising  at  four,  study  till  six, 
then  hear  Hausmann  on  Geognosy,  who  is  prime,  as  well 
in  the  understanding  as  the  explaining  of  his  subject. 
At  7  Schrader  who  teaches  me  very  little  ;  at  8  Welcker, 
who  is  exactly  what  you  foretold  he  would  be,  abstract 
and  obscure,  always  seeking  to  go  where  no  one    can 

follow  him I  really  like  him  as  a  man  and  respect 

him  as  a  scholar  —  indeed  I  almost  love  him,  since  a 
visit  I  made  him  one  morning  when  he  talked  to  me 
wholly  of  you,  and  talked  as  if  he  had  a  heart  and  had 

found  out  also  in  some  degree  the  worth  of  yours 

From  9  to  1 1  I  am  at  liberty  to  study —  11  hear  Haus- 
mann privatissime  in  Mineralogy;  this  is  accidental.  A 
young  man  from  Odessa  whom  I  know,  had  begun  the 
course  and  invited  me  to  hear  it  with  him.  I  could  not 
refuse  such  an  opportunity  of  prosecuting  a  favorite 
science.  From  1 2  to  1  free,  —  1  to  2  in  Botanic  Garden 
or  Library  ;  2  Heeren  who  lectures  well ;  3  with  Reck  ; 
4   Saalfeld    in    Northern  History ;    5    Blumenbach  ;    6 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Paris. 


Ace  30.]  VISIT  TO  HAMBURG.  61 

Benecke At  7  comes  my  drill  sergeant  and    so 

ends  the  day  as  to  the  lectures  I  hear.  At  8  I  give 
Augustus  one  in  Italian,  and  study  as  much  afterwards, 
before  12,  as  accident  and  circumstances  allow.  With 
all  this  I  do  not  want  for  exercise.  I  must  needs  walk 
10,000  steps,  at  least  4  miles,  every  day.  Saturday  I 
make  excursions  with  Schrader,  and  Sunday  with  Haus- 
mann,1  who  makes  nothing  of  carrying  us  a  round  of  15 

or  20  miles Thorndike  will  surely  win  his  book,  he 

is  always  up  before  five. 

Gottingen,  June  4,  [18 1 7].*  A  former  letter  my  dear 
G.  informed  you  that  I  was  about  to  play  truant  a  little.  — 
Mr.  E.,  Augustus  and  myself  sat  out  at  the  time  there- 
in mentioned2  and  reached  Hamburg  Sunday  —  staid 
there  four  days,  saw  a  great  deal  of  Eberling  and  of  his 
American  library,  of  Brodie,  Parish,  Tom  Searle,  etc., 
etc.,  —  on  the  whole  the  visit  was  rather  a  pleasant  one. 
Thursday  night  at  eleven  we  started  from  Parish's  coun- 
try house,  six  miles  below  Hamburg,  where  we  had 
dined,  crossed  the  river  and  made  the  best  of  our  way 

toward  Bremen,  where  we  arrived  at  sunset We 

arrived  safely  at  Gottingen  Monday  at  \  past  5  p.  m. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Paris. 

1  In  a  letter  of  three  days  previous,  he  a  sword,  on  one  side  ;  a  small  axe  and 

says    to    Mr.    Dudley   Atkins,  —  "  You  chisels  on  the  other  ;  a  leather  knapsack 

would  take  great  delight  in  an  excursion  on  the  back  to  hold  the  treasures  we  col- 

with  him  [Hausmannl.     We  make  them  lect ;  a  short  jacket  and  a  jockey  cap. 

every  week,  10,  15,  to  20  English  miles.  Thus   equipped   we   scour    the    country 

Our  company  consists   of  50  or  60,  all  around  Gottingen." 

dressed  in  the  uniform  of  mineralogists,         2  The  morning  of  Friday,  May  23,  — 

—  a  large  hammer  attached  to  a  belt,  like  9  A.  M. 


62  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817- 

Gottingen,  June  13,  1817.*  .  .  .  I  confess  to  you 
what  I  have  not  done  yet  to  anybody,  that  I  find  the 
business  I  took  in  hand  the  present  term  rather  too 
much  for  me,  ten  hours  a  day  in  the  lecture  room  and 
seven  or  eight  more  for  study  is  rather  beyond  my  pow- 
ers, but  I  am  too  proud  to  give  up,  and  so,  as  my  phy- 
sician, Professor  Stromeyer  says,  it  is  well  for  me  that  I 
am  to  be  sent  away  in  the  fall  —  I  should  not  have  been 
so  greedy  had  more  time  been  allowed  me. 

Cassel,  14th.*  I  was  prevented  from  finishing  yester- 
day by  a  very  pleasant  interruption,  a  letter  from  G 

soon  after  my  physician  came  in  and  ordered  me  out 
of  town,  and  so,  toward  evening,  I  took  up  my  march 
for  this  place,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  little  recrea- 
tion and  recruit.  To-morrow  I  return  to  my  duties 
again.  Cassel  is  about  25  English  miles  from  Gottin- 
gen,  the  country  between  the  two  is  very  beautiful.  I 
walked  more  than  half  the  way  with  a  large  herbarium 
in  one  hand,  and  a  mineralogical  hammer  in  the  other, 
and  amusing  myself  with  culling  flowers  and  beating 
stones. 

Gottingen,  June  27,  1817.1  •  •  •  •  Hausmann  has  told 
me  so  much  of  the  Harz,  of  its  importance  and  wonders 
in  a  mineralogical  and  geological  view,  and  Schrader  of 
its  botanical  curiosities  and  beauties,  that  I  could  not 
rest  while  I  thought  I  might  leave  Germany  without 
seeing  it.  Accordingly  as  there  is  now  a  sort  of  half 
vacation,  many  of  the  professors  being  about  to  make 
the  summer  visit  to    Pyrmont,  I   resolved   upon   taking 

*  To  Mrs.  E.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Paris. 


Age  30.]         TOUR   TO   THE  HARZ  MOUNTAINS.  63 

the  next  week  for  this  tour  and  persuaded   Everett  to 
accompany  me.     We  set  out    to-morrow  morning  and 

mean  to  return  Sunday  sennight 

I  never  imagined  that  I  should  hear  the  story  of  the 
Windham  frogs  1  in  the  auditorium  of  a  German  pro- 
fessor, but  who  can  foretell  the  strange  events  which  he 
may  meet  with  in  life.  —  Yesterday  as  Blumenbach  was 
lecturing  upon  the  Rana  Ocellata,  he  amused  the  audi- 
tors with  the  Windham  narrative  and  turned  to  me  for 
confirmation;  I  shook  my  head  —  "Oh  ja  !  oh  ja!"  — 
he  repeated  three  or  four  times  in  his  queer  way.  I  kept 
on  shaking  my  head,  and  then  he  came  out  with  his 
authority,  and  who  that  must  have  been  I  need  not  tell 
you.  He  is  infinitely  amusing  and  probably  as  instruc- 
tive as  the  nature  of  his  college  will  admit.  I  find  some- 
times a  little  too  much  buffoonery  ;  it  seems  strange  that 
a  man  of  such  profound  science  as  he  is  should  treat 
his  branch  as  if  it  afforded  merely  matter  for  amuse- 
ment. 


*On  Saturday  morning,  June  28,  at  daylight,  Mr.  Ev- 
erett and  myself  sat  out  upon'a  tour  to  the  mountains  of 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston,  written  Sept.  2,  1817. 

1  The  anecdote  referred  to  was  this  :  sion    of   a   ditch,    where   after   a  severe 

The  inhabitants  of  Windham,  Connecti-  drought,  there  remained  a  little  water,  the 

cut,  were  alarmed  one  night  in  July,  1758,  only  moist  spot  in  all  the  precints  where 

by  strange  sounds,  which  some  thought  they  lived.     Many  were  found  dead,  and 

to  be  the  yelling  of  Indians,  others  to  be  signs  of  battle  were  abundant.     An  old 

warnings  of  the  approach  of  the   Day  of  broadside  giving  a  humorous  account  of 

Judgment.     In  the    morning  it  was  dis-  this  incident  is  reprinted  in  the  American 

covered  that  the  bullfrogs  who  inhabited  Historical  Record,  edited  by  B.  J.  Lossing. 

a  pond  a  mile  from  the  village,  had  car-  Vol.  i.  No.  5,  May,  1872. 
ried  on  a  deadly  contest  for  the  posses- 


64  JOSEJ'LL  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

the  Harz.     As  it  was  to  be  a  foot  expedition  Augustus 

did  not  incline  to  join  us At  noon  we  reached  the 

foot  of  the  mountains,  discharged  our  carriage,  treated 
ourselves  to  a  rich  repast  of  strawberries  and  cream,  took 

staves  in  our  hands  and  began  to  ascend We  had 

a  most  interesting  week  in  this  wild  country;  it  was  like 
being  among  another  people,  for  they  spoke  another  lan- 
guage, or  rather  languages,  from  that  which  we  had  been 
used  to  hear,  and  their  customs  and  manners  carried  us 

back  almost  to  the  ages  of  primitive  simplicity In 

fact  the  life  we  led  there  seemed  to  belong  rather  to  fic- 
tion than  reality.  I  became  enamored  of  it  and  could 
gladly  have  spent  months  in  the  same  way.  However  a 
violent  rain  drove  us  from  the  mountains  the  next  Satur- 
day, in  the  afternoon  of  which  we  took  carriage  and  re- 
turned home,  after  having  walked  during  the  week  at 
least  120  miles,  all  of  which  were  climbing  up  and  down 
mountains.  The  expedition  quite  built  me  up  anew. 
I  came  back  almost  as  rugged  as  the  people  I  had  been 
among. 

Gottingen,  July  13,  181 7.*  Last  spring,  when  I 
was  in  Weimar,  I  saw  a  fine  portrait  of  Goethe  in  the 
library  of  the  Grand  Duke,  painted  by  Jagermann,  por- 
trait painter  to  his  Highness  ;  it  pleased  me  so  much 
that  I  applied  to  Jagermann  to  take  one  for  me  also,  this 
he  did.1  I  have  sent  it  to  you  by  Mr.  Searle,  who  soon 
returns  to   America ;  all   the   professors   and   others  in 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


1  This  replica  of  the  portrait  of  Goethe  is  now,  we  believe,  in  the  possession  ot 
Francis  Schroeder,  Esq. 


Age  3o.]  OBSERVATORIES.  65 

Gottingen  who  know  Goethe,  pronounce  the  likeness  to 
be  uncommonly  well  hit;  the  painting  itself  is  good,  but 
not  like  Stuart's.  I  prize  it  highly,  not  because  I  like 
every  part  of  Goethe's  character  or  writing,  but  he  is  un- 
questionably the  greatest  poet  and  genius  that  Germany 
has  ever  produced,  and  has  one  or  two  features  that  one 
would  like  to  study.  Who  ever  saw  another  such  an 
eye  as  his  ?  You  have  it  to  perfection  in  the  picture,  its 
wildness  and  all. 

Gottingen,  July  20,  18 1 7.*  ...  .  The  article  to 
which  I  referred  above  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Mr. 
Soldner  at  Munich  to  the  Baron  von  Lindenau,  giving 
an  account  of  the  new  Observatory  there,  which  appears 
to  have  qualities  worthy  of  your  attention,  if  similar  ones 
have  not  already  been  considered  by  you.  I  translate 
such  parts  of  the  letter  as  I  judge  will  be  most  impor- 
tant  But  perhaps  you  have  had  all  this  a  thou- 
sand times  over.  You  must  not  laugh  at  me  if  you 
have.  Building  Observatories  has  not  been  my  business, 
and  I  am  not  ashamed  of  my  ignorance  in  regard  to 
them.  ...  I  want  to  have  you  get  into  the  way  of 
forming  correspondences  in  Europe,  because  it  will  do 
much  for  the  eclat  of  the  University.  Your  Observatory 
is  not  only  to  make  you  more  nearly  acquainted  with 
the  celestial  luminaries,  it  will  also  show  to  the  astrono- 
mers of  Europe  that  there  is  at  least  one  brilliant  star 
in  the  American  hemisphere.  I  shall  not  forget  you 
whenever  I  go  within  a  day's  ride  of  an  Observatory, 
particularly  at  Munich  and  at  Ofen It  is  some 

*  To  Prof.  J.  Farrar,  Cambridge,  U.  S. 
9 


66  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

satisfaction  to  me,  always,  to  feel  that  no  source  of 
knowledge  has  been  neglected,  even  if  nothing  is  learnt 
by  the  investigation,1  and  I  have  no  doubt  the  same  is 
the  case  with  yourself.  .... 

Everybody  knows  that  from  my  youth  upward,  I  have 
had  a  great  lurch  for  exploring  unknown  regions,  par- 
ticularly the  African  deserts.  The  ill  success  of  the 
late  attempts,  with  better  means  than  I  could  possibly 
command,  compelled  me  to  renounce  this  as  impracti- 
cable, and  hence  my  views  turned  to  another  quarter, 
but  to  a  similar  object,  and  after  a  great  deal  of  con- 
versation and  advice  with  men  of  science  in  Europe, 
I  have  resolved  upon  gratifying  this  love  of  roaming 
by  turning  myself  loose  into  the  American  wilds.2  This 
I  do  because  I  am  convinced,  from  all  that  is  now  known 
of  them,  they  must  be  very  rich  in  respect  to  two  of  my 
chief  subjects  of  inquiry,  botany  and  mineralogy.  Thus 
you  see  I  have  come  to  the  very  plan  you  marked  out 
for  me.  I  must  confess,  however,  that  I  fairly  exposed 
myself  to  your  raillery You  hit  me  also  in  an- 
other tender  place,  my  dear  sir,  in  the  enumeration  you 
make  of  the  whole  circle  of  the  sciences,  and  the  sugges- 
tion that  I  may  find  something  among  them  to  engage 
my  attention.  And  here  I  must  owe  you  one.  I  have 
nothing  to  retort  upon  you  for  instability,  and  not  a 
word  to  say  in  my  own  justification.     Having  lived  half 

1  This  continued  to  be  a  moving  prin-  ashamed  to  remain  ignorant  of  a  thing  I 

ciple  with  him  to  his  latest  years.    When  have  the  power  of  learning." 

he  was  eighty  years  old  he  took  great  a  From  this  time  for  five  or  six  years  he 

pains  to  understand   the  processes   and  kept  more  or  less  in  view,  some  expedition 

intricacies    of   the    game   of  Base   Ball,  into   the   then  unopened  regions  of  the 

and  said,  "  I  am   never  ashamed  of  not  United  States,  Arkansas,  West   Louisi- 

knowing  anything,  but  I  am  very  much  ana,  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri,  etc. 


Age  3o.]  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL    STUDIES.  6j 

of  an  ordinary  life  to  no  one  purpose,  it  behooves  me 
to  make  a  better  use  of  what  may  remain.  The  end 
of  it    must  decide  if  it  will    be  as  though   I  had    not 

been Professor  Gauss  showed   me    a    few  days 

since  his  tables  for  barometrical  observations.  They 
appear  to  make  the  work  much  shorter  than  any  others 
I  have  seen,  and  so  I  copy  them  for  you  out  of  Bode's 
Astronomical  Annals 

Gottingen,  Sunday,  27 th  \July,  18 17.]  3  p.m.*  ....  I 
have  made  two  experiments  with  Benecke  in  the  library, 
and  rejoice  that  I  now  get  an  hour  of  very  valuable  in- 
struction, for  one  which  was  worth  nothing  at  all.  He 
takes  the  library  first  according  to  the  arrangement  on 
the  shelves,  and  goes  through  the  whole  with  me  in 
that  way,  giving  minute  accounts  of  all  the  divisions 
and  subdivisions,  and  of  the  practical  application  of  the 
principles  of  classification  and  distribution.  Afterwards 
he  will  do  the  same  with  the  catalogues.  If  you  think 
of  any  questions  I  shall  not  be  likely  to  ask,  tell  me  of 
them.  This  will  be  another  acquisition  which  I  shall 
owe  to  you,  for  I  hardly  think  I  should  ever  have 
thought  of  the  study,  had  you  not  suggested  it  to  me. 
As  you  put  me  in  the  way  of  acquiring  this  knowledge, 
I  shall  call  upon  you  to  tell  me  what  use  I  can  make 
of  it,1  for  I  certainly  see  none  myself. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Paris. 

1  That   this   rather    unusual   form   of  tion  to  the  public  libraries  wherever  he 

study  really  bore  fruit  in  his  after-life  the  went,  and  pursued  bibliographical  studies 

Astor   Library   is   a   proof.     From   this  in  every  way. 
time  Mr.  Cogswell  devoted  special  atten- 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Italy,  1817-1818. 

ROME,  November  27,  1817*  ....  The  journey 
from  Gottingen  to  the  "  Eternal  City  "  was  very  in- 
teresting.1 ....  The  great  charm  of  Germany  to  me  is 
that  it  contains  so  much  of  the  antiquities  of  the  mid- 
dle or  dark  ages,  as  they  are  commonly  called,  a  period 
of  history  very  obscure,  because  considered  unworthy 
of  investigation,  but  one  of  whicji  the  knowledge  is 
indispensable,  for  the  right  understanding  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  character  of  the  nations  of  the  pres- 
ent day  and  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans, 
a  difference  very  evident  upon  comparison  of  the  two 
ages,  and  totally  unaccountable  to  one  who  does  not 
examine  the  intermediate  state  through  which  they 
passed.  Germany  is  also  a  delightful  country  in  re- 
spect to  mere  beauties  of  nature,  more  particularly  the 
south  part  of  it. 

Rome,  2<->th  December,  1817.!.  .  •  .  I  never  was  more 
satisfied  and  gratified  with  a  week's  visit  in  any  place 
than  I  was  in  Munich.  Everything  there  seems  to  be 
vigorous  and    improving every  member  of  the 

*  To  Mrs.  J.  Nichols,  Portland.  t  To  Prof.  J.  Farrar,  Cambridge. 

1  September  6  to  November  15. 


AGK3I-]  DR.  SOMMERING.  69 

Academy  is  active  and  ambitious  ....  genius,  however 
it  discovers  itself,  is  rewarded  and  honored.  I  will  give 
you  one  example,  from  which  you  may  infer  exactly 
the  zeal  with  which  the  savans  of  Munich  are  laboring, 
in  their  several  vocations.  While  there  I  used  to  pass 
at  least  an  hour  every  evening  with  Dr.  Sommering, 
known  by  his  anatomical  discoveries.  In  the  course  of 
the  week  he  had  shown  me  all  his  preparations,  his  col- 
lection of  pre-adamite  petrifications,  his  galvanic  clock, 
in  a  word  all  that  he  had  of  the  curious,  and  I  took 
leave  of  him  Friday  evening,  telling  him  that  I  should 
start  for  Salzburg  in  the  morning  early.  At  the  very 
dawn  of  day  he  came  running  to  my  lodgings  and 
begged  me  to  afford  him  a  few  minutes,  to  look  at 
something  he  had  before  forgotten  to  show  me.  I  went 
to  his  house,  and  found  his  table  covered  with  a  row 
of  tumblers  and  bottles  of  wine.  The  discovery  to  be 
communicated  was  this.  He  had  found  out  a  year  or 
two  before,  that  the  bladder  of  oxen,  when  dried,  would 
allow  the  free  evaporation  of  water,  and  at  the  same  time 
guard  spirit  from  such  a  volatilization,  as  completely  as  if 

it  were  hermetically  sealed Equal    quantities    of 

water  and  of  alcohol  are  set,  by  the  side  of  each  other, 
in  two  vessels  in  every  respect  alike,  the  water  wholly 
evaporates,  and  the  alcohol  remains  undiminished.  In 
the  case  of  wine  a  most  wonderful  improvement  and 
mellowing,  strange  as  this  may  seem,  is  caused  by  thus 
depriving  it  of  its  aqueous  parts ;  one  year  gives  it  the 
ripeness  of  forty,  to  judge  from  the  specimens  he  showed 
me.  This  was  the  discovery  of  Dr.  Sommering,  a  man 
whose  name  was  already  known  in  every  quarter  of  the 


70  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

world  by  his  curious  investigation  of  the  structure  of 
the  eye,  and  yet,  so  greedy  was  he  of  fame,  that  he  could 
not  let  an  unknown,  obscure  American  depart  from 
Munich,  until  he  had  given  him  this  last  proof  of  his 
ingenuity 

Rome,  December  8,  181 7*  .  .  .  .  It  appears  to  me  that 
the  time  has  arrived  when  a  systematic  care  of  this  class 
of  the  community  [the  unprotected  children  of  the 
poor]  is  requisite  in  New  England,  (I  speak  of  this 
portion  of  our  country  only,  not  because  I  feel  an  ex- 
clusive interest  in  it,  but  because  I  know  most  about 
it.)  It  is  true  we  have  no  overgrown  cities,  and  no 
crowded  population,  and  the  means  of  subsistence  are 
within  the  reach  of  every  industrious  healthy  individ- 
ual ;  but  another  evil  is  beginning  to  show  itself,  which 
will  infallibly,  produce  an  immoral  populace  if  it  is 
permitted  to  take  its  usual  course  ;  this  is  the  intro- 
duction of  large  manufacturing  establishments.  Grant 
that  they  must  exist,  and  that  they  must  employ  chil- 
dren, they  need  not  exclusively  employ  them,  —  if  they 
do,  they  make  them  just  as  completely  machines  as  the 
spindles  they  manage Your  plan  for  the  agricul- 
tural establishment '  is  an  admirable  one,  and,  as  far  as 
I  can  see,  presents  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  its  execu- 
tion except  the  universal  one,  which  attends  every  effort 
of  the  kind  in  America,  and  this  is,  that  proud  spirit 
of  independence    that   leads    every    man,    woman,    and 

*  To  Mr.  E.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  A  scheme  which  was  carried  out,  fifteen  years  later,  in  the   Farm   School    for 
Boys,  near  Boston. 


Age  3i.]  MUNICH  AND  RUMFORD.  71 

child  in  the  country,  to  believe  that  they  can  take  care 
of  themselves,  and  manage  their  own  concerns  vastly 
better,  than  anybody  else  can  do  it  for  them. 

I  cannot  express  to  you  the  satisfaction  my  visit  to 
Munich  gave  me.  It  afforded  me  perfect  demonstration 
of  my  favorite  theory,  that  a  single  individual  may  pro- 
duce almost  infinite  good,  if  he  sets  himself  seriously 
about  it.  When  Rumford  went  there  he  had  neither 
fortune  nor  influence,  but  seeing  the  miserable  con- 
dition of  the  city,  he  was  induced  to  offer  his  services 
for  the  alleviation  of  it ;  and  he  owed  his  success  com- 
pletely to  his  own  resources,  his  zeal  in  the  cause  he 
had  undertaken,  and  his  confidence  in  his  own  powers. 
Unaided  by  the  government,  for  it  was  then  too  poor 
to  afford  aid,  and  too  corrupt  to  regard  the  condition 
of  the  people,  but  permitted  by  them  to  do  just  what 
he  pleased,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  he  contrived 
to  find  bread  for  the  poor  and  stop  their  murmurings ; 
to  employ  the  military,  and  quell  their  insurrections  ; 
to  bring  the  deranged  finances  into  order ;  to  call  back 
industry  among  the  mechanics  ;  to  drain  the  unhealthy 
morass  which  joins  upon  the  city,  and  convert  it  into 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  spacious  public  walks  in 
Europe ;  in  a  word,  to  change  the  whole  tone  and 
character  of  the  citizens  of  Munich,  from  the  Elector 
down  to  the  lowest  porter.  He  had,  however,  the  re- 
ward at  last  of  most  benefactors.  Envy  and  jealousy 
removed  him  from  the  favor  of  the  court,  but  most  of 
the  reforms  he  had  made  were  too  obviously  useful  to 
be  laid  aside,  and  it  is  with  no  small  pride  that  an 
American  now  sees  that  the  present  flourishing  con- 
dition of  the  city  is  owing  to  one  of  his  countrymen. 


72  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1817. 

Romk,  December  24,  18 17*  ...  .  What  a  pity  it  is 
that  with  such  a  delightful  country  on  every  side,  an 
hundred  thousand  human  beings,  generation  upon  gen- 
eration, should  be  condemned  to  wear  out  life,  in  that 
gloomy  prison  called  Venice.  What  notions  can  these 
miserable  inhabitants  have  of  the  beauties  of  nature ; 
the  returning  verdure  of  the  spring  and  the  putting 
forth  of  the  flowers  are  pictures  they  never  see,  the 
song  of  the  birds  is  music  they  never  hear,  life  must 
be  dull  where  all  creation  is  dead  but  man.  Indeed  I 
do  think,  without  any  aid  of  imagination,  that  there  is 

no  cheerfulness  in  their  mirth It  is  afflicting  to 

see  so  many  fine  specimens  of  beautiful  taste  and  noble 
architecture,  both  in  churches  and  palaces,  resting  upon 
no  better  foundation  than  those  wooden  piles  which 
hardly  keep  them  out  of  the  Lagunes 

Why  it  is  that  Lord  Byron  has  fixed  his  residence, 
for  two  or  three  years,  at  Venice  I  cannot  conceive.  .  .  . 
Unluckily  for  me  he  was  at  Mira  when  I  was  at  Venice, 

and  so   I  lost  the  pleasure  of   seeing  him You 

remember  the  almost  uninterrupted  row  of  villas  from 
Fusina  to  Padua.  He  occupied  one,  for  a  few  months 
in  the  summer,  at  Mira  upon  the  Brenta.  I  passed  it 
on  my  way  to  Padua  and  should  have  called  upon  him, 
but  it  was  only  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  as  I 
knew  he  did  not  rise  till  noon,  I  thought  best  not  to 
disturb  his  slumbers 

Do  you  remember  that  divine  Christ  of  Correggio 
in  the  Palace  Marescalchi : l  it  is  the  only  head  of  the 

*  To  W.  H.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  At    Bologna.      The   gallery   of   the     reggios,  but   they   have   been   sold   and 
Marescalchi  contained  several  fine  Cor-     scattered. 


Age  31.]  AT  ROME.  73 

Saviour  I  have  ever  seen  which  gives  him  the  proper 
attributes  of  his  character.  In  all  the  crucifixions  there 
is  too  much  of  the  Laocoon,  and  in  the  suppers  and 
such  scenes  the  ideal  head  which  the  Greeks  gave  to 
the  benignant  Jupiter  is  always  copied  ;  in  this  head 
of  Correggio's  the  divinity  has  nothing  pagan  about 
it,  it  seems  as  if  he  had  breathed  out  upon  the  canvas 
an  image  of  the  Son  of  God  which  had  been  communi- 
cated to  him  in  a  heavenly  vision 

I  hope  you  were  lucky  enough  to  take  the  route  from 
Bologna  to  Rome  which  leads  along  the  Adriatic,  if  you 
were  you  will  congratulate  me  upon  the  delight  I  en- 
joyed in  following  the  margin  of  those  peerless  waters 
for  so  many  miles.  There  are  one  or  two  points  which 
offer  a  view  as  beautiful  as  this  fair  world  can  boast, 
particularly  the  summit  by  Macerata,  after  having  passed 
Loretto.  How  smooth  are  the  outlines  of  the  eastern 
horizon,  formed  by  the  Dalmatian  hills  rising  upon  the 
farther  border  of  the  Adriatic  ....  and  how  pretty  is 
the  nearer  scenery 


G.    TICKNOR    TO    MRS.    PRESCOTT. 

Rome,  November  15,  1817. 
....  This  morning  the  pleasures  of  Rome  have 
been  doubled  to  me  by  the  arrival  of  Cogswell  and 
Thorndike.  Cogswell  is  thin  —  perhaps  more  so  than 
when  he  left  Boston,  but  I  think  his  health  is  not  bad. 
Since  either  you  or  myself  saw  him  last,  he  has  ac- 
quired a  new  passion,  which  is  now  eating   up  all  his 


74  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1S17. 

faculties.  Botany  was  the  one  that  preceded  it,  but 
this  new  attachment  to  mineralogy  is  much  more  vio- 
lent, and  to  me  really  alarming,  since  he  seems  now 
disposed  to  make  it  the  business  of  his  life,  and  pursue 
it  in  a  manner  that  will  necessarily  separate  him  from 
his  friends  and  defeat  the  usefulness  they  have  so  long 
expected  from  him.  It  is  a  perfect  fanaticism  in  him, 
but  it  shall  be  no  fault  of  mine  if  he  is  carried  away  by 
it,  though,  as  I  have  never  seen  any  passion  in  him  so 
decided  as  this,  I  confess  I  do  not  begin  with  too 
sanguine  hopes 


Mr.  Cogswell  continues  :  — 

Rome,  December  12,  [181 7.]  *  I  was  invited  last 
evening,  my  dear  D.,  to  listen  to  the  exhibition  of  an 
improvvisatrice,  and  as  she  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  best 
that  has  appeared  in   Italy  for  many  years,  I  will  try  to 

give  you  some  account  of  her She  is  a  young 

Neapolitan  girl  of  about  eighteen  ....  she  has  now 
been  at  school  about  four  or  five  months,  during  which 
time  she  has  made  no  display  of  herself,  except  oc- 
casionally at  the  houses  of  her  patrons,  as  last  evening 
at  that  of  the  Princess  Borghese.  The  company  as- 
sembled there  was  between  forty  and  fifty,  composed  of 
half  a  dozen  cardinals  and  the  literati  of  the  city.  The 
first  appearance  of  the  performer  disappointed  me  ex- 
ceedingly. I  was  looking  for  a  Corinna  in  the  attire  of 
the  Domenichino  sybil,  instead  of  which  a  bashful  look- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  3 1-]  THE  IMPRO VVISATRICE.  75 

ing  little  girl,  in  a  simple  white  robe,  stepped  forth  into 
the  midst  of  the  circle.  The  subject  was  given,  and  the 
notes  of  the  piano  sounded  to  the  measure  of  the  verse 
to  be  recited.  After  walking  several  times  across  the 
room,  as  it  were  in  a  style  of  invocation,  she  broke  out 
into  a  fine  rhapsody,  in  the  character  of  Venus  invoking 
the  favor  of  Jupiter  for  her  beloved  Trojans.  The  im- 
proviso  lasted  about  twenty  minutes  and  in  my  opinion 
it  displayed  prodigious  talent,  not  so  much  in  the  fa- 
cility with  which  so  many  impromptu  rhymes  were 
made,  for  that  is  owing  for  the  most  part  to  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  language,  and  with  the  aid  of  music 
too,  which  admits  so  many  repetitions  and  gives  so 
much  time  to  think,  this  is  easily  done,  but  the  whole 
of  it  was  full  of  imagination  and  poetic  thought.  After 
a  short  interim  a  new  subject  was  given,  and  the  gov- 
erning rhyme  for  every  stanza  called  out  by  the  auditors 
promiscuously  ;  for  example  some  one  gave  "  quanto," 
another  "  Xanto,"  etc.,  all  of  the  same  termination,  for 
as  many  verses  as  were  to  be  made,  —  precisely  as  Gold- 
smith used  to  make  his  poetry.  Thus  trammelled  she 
began  anew  and  produced  twenty  glowing  stanzas,  as 
Regulus,  taking  leave  of  his  countrymen  to  return  to 
Carthage.  In  a  similar  way,  with  different  variations 
and  more  embarrassing  fetters  she  gave  us  six  exhibi- 
tions of  her  talent,  with  every  one  of  which  my  aston- 
ishment and  admiration  was  increased.  Her  manner 
throughout  was  graceful,  but  full  of  action  ;  as  soon  as 
she  began  each  recitative  her  face  glowed,  her  eyes 
sparkled  and  the  working  of  her  mind  was  seen  in 
every   muscle.      The    most   convincing   proofs    of    her 


76  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [i8i?. 

talent  were  that  she  could  extricate  herself  from  every 
embarrassment ;  occasionally  she  stopped,  the  music  kept 
on,  she  quickened  her  step  about  the  room,  repeated 
a  verse  she  had  already  sung,  a  deeper  glow  came  upon 
her  face  and  a  stronger  working  of  the  mind  swelled 
out  every  muscle  ;  but  these  efforts  were  never  without 
success,  in  every  case  her  finest  flights  were  those 
she  made  after  being  apparently  completely  upon    the 

ground I   went  at  ten   to  join  the    Duchess  of 

Bracciano's  rout,  where  there  was  nothing  but  noise 
and  crowding  and  card-playing. 

I  begin  to  feel  happier  in  Rome  than  I  have  been 
anywhere  in  Europe.  I  was  contented  at  Gbttingen, 
but  all  the  society  I  had  there  afforded  me  no  food  for 
my  affections,  it  was  my  mind  only  that  feasted.  Here 
I  have  found  one  family  in  which  my  heart  takes  com- 
fort, they  are  so  kind  to  me  that  I  am  not  reminded  of 
being  a  stranger  among  them They  are  all  regu- 
larly at  home  every  evening  and  have  a  small  additional 
society  to  pass  it  with  them,  and  I  have  never  found 
anything,  out  of  my  own  country,  half  so  rational  or 
half  so  pleasant  as  these  evenings  are,  so  that  you  may 
well  suppose  I  do  not  often  neglect  to  improve  the 
privilege  they  allow  me,  of  going  there  whenever  I 
choose.  Do  not  start  when  you  find  this  enchanting 
family  to  be  Lucien  Bonaparte's.1 


1  The  eldest  daughter  of  Lucien  Bon-  in   1819,  to   Count  Posse,  a  Swede,  are 

aparte,  already  married  to  Piince  Pros-  often  mentioned  in  the  later   letters,  and 

sedi  (afterwards  Prince  Gabrielli),  and  a  Mr.  Cogswell  corresponded  with  Princess 

younger  one,  Christine,  who  was  married  Prossedi  for  several  years. 


Age  31.]  'GEOLOGY  AND  MINERALOGY.  7  J 

Rome,  December  23,  1817*  ....  I  am  longing  to  get 
back  to  Germany,  for  except  in  a  few  spots,  Italy  is  very 
uninteresting  to  a  mineralogist.  Her  mountains  are  al- 
most one  uniform  mass  of  limestone  or  sandstone,  which 
present  more  beauties  to  the  eye  of  the  poet  than  curi- 
osities to  the  enquirer  into  nature,  and  in  every  respect, 
but  that  of  the  arts,  Italy  is  a  tame  country,  to  one  who 
has  known  the  delights  of  Germany  :  yes,  life  to  me  in 
this  supposed  paradise,  in  which  the  sun  is  so  bright 
and  the  heaven  so  clear,  and  the  moon  so  beautiful,  and 
the  wave  so  blue,  is  weariness  compared  with  the  vigor 
I  felt  and  the  spirits  I  had  when  leaping  from  cliff  to 
cliff  amid  German  clouds.     Then  I  lived, 

"  Through  that  which  had    been  death  to  many  men, 
And  made  me  friends  of  mountains  ; " 

and  there  I  learnt  to  admire  nature  and  be  enchanted 
with  the  "  magic  of  her  mysteries,"  and  this  is  the  diffi- 
culty, when  one    has  once  enjoyed    a   life    so  poetical, 

everything  else  becomes  dull  and  prosaic 

You  caution  me  to  beware  of  the  allurements  of  geol- 
ogy and  intimate,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  disciple  of 
Haiiy,1  that  mineralogy  alone  is  the  only  science  worth 
studying,  but  as  I  have  been  bred  in  another  school  I 
may  be  allowed  to  dissent  from  this  opinion  of  the  atom- 
ists.  I  am  well  aware  that  geology  is  to  be  learnt  only 
through  mineralogy,  and  of  course  dependent  upon  it, 
but  in  my  view  it  is  a  science  as  much  above  the  other, 

*  To  Dudley  Atkins,  Boston. 

1  Abbe  Haiiy,  a  distinguished  mineralogist,  who  discovered  the  geometrical  law 
of  crystallization. 


78  JOSEPH  GREEKT  COGSWELL.  [>8i8. 

as  the  art  which  modelled  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Capi- 
tolinus  is  superior  to  the  one  which  taught  how  to  hew 
the  stone  of  which  it  was  formed. 

Rome,  January  17,  1818.*  .  .  .  .  It  would  be  folly  for 
me  to  pretend  that  I  am  different  from  human  nature  in 
general,  and  that  years  of  observation  of  new  manners 
and  of  new  people  have  and  will  produce  no  effect  upon 
my  own  sentiments  ;  on  the  contrary  I  candidly  confess 
I  could  never  be  so  perfectly  contented  with  our  own 
state  of  society  as  I  was  before  I  had  seen  so  much  of 
foreign  ;  so  far  I  am  sophisticated,  I  should  wish  to  intro- 
duce some  of  the  European  refinements  into  the  simpli- 
city of  American  life,  and  I  believe  every  honest  country- 
man whose  travelling  has  made  him  acquainted  with 
men  as  well  as  things,  would  make  a  similar  acknowl- 
edgment. This  is  a  change  which  affects  the  mind  and 
not  the  heart,  friends  and  country  remain  as  dear  as  ever. 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
Summer  of   1818.  —  Switzerland.  —  Fellenberg's  School  at    Hofwyl. 

/^ENEVA,  April  2b,  1818*  ....  On  my  way  here 
^-^  from  the  Simplon  I  walked  from  St.  Gingoulph  to 
Dovaine,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles  in  eight  hours ;  you 
see  I  am  not  wanting  in   the  essential  requisites  for  a 

Swiss  traveller These  are  scenes  which  make  me 

love  life  again.  I  forget  myself  and  am  happy  as  I  gaze 
upon  them.  An  elevation  of  a  few  thousand  feet,  above 
the  level  of  the  ocean,  gives  me  a  sense  of  independ- 
ence ....  produces  as  it   were  a  new  consciousness, 

and  new  sympathies,  and  new  affections I  do  not 

remember  to  have  heard  you  say  much  about  Gen- 
eva  Did  it  not  occur  to  you  that  there  was  a 

great  resemblance  between  them  [the  people  here]  and 
our  good  sober  folks  in  Boston,  the  same  gregarious  dis- 
position, the  same  love  of  talk  and  tea  drinking,  of  po- 
litical and  religious  conversation,  in  a  word  the  same 
general  habits  and  customs,  except  the  villainous  one  of 
universal  card  playing,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  Gene- 
vans. I  could  not  stand  the  siege  much  longer,  it  is 
quite  as  bad  as  at  Rome.  I  have  not  had  a  single  even- 
ing to  myself  since  I  have  been  here,  any  more  than  we 
did  there,  and  the  society  is  certainly  not  so  interesting 
as  it  was  there,  or  rather  it  is  not  so  alluring. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Madrid. 


So  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1818. 

Geneva,  June  6,  18 18*  Your  kind  letter  of  Dec. 
15th  has  remained  thus  long  unanswered  that  I  might 
give  you  the  information  you  wish  about  the  Hofwyl 
institution,  from  my  own  personal  knowledge  and  ob- 
servation. Being  at  Berne,  in  the  month  of  May,  I  went 
there  and  spent  a  day  in  examining  this  establishment.1 
....  Its  object  originally  was  agricultural,  or  rather, 
under  the  avowed  object  of  improving  the  agriculture  of 
his  country,  Mr.  de  Fellenberg  had  really  in  view  the 
improvement  of  the  system  of  general  education.  Like 
all  philanthropists  he  was  an  enthusiast,  and  believed  in 
the  possible  perfectibility  of  man.     This  he  thought  was 

to  be  effected  through  the  medium  of  education 

Out  of  his  school  of  theoretical  agriculture  grew  a 
school  for  general  and  higher  education,  which  has  the 
character  of  being  one  of  the  best  in  Europe.  Many  of 
its  characteristics  are  peculiar  to  itself,  such  as  the  dis- 
pensing altogether  with  rewards  and  punishments,  the 
liberty  allowed  the  pupil  to  defend  himself  when  cen- 
sured, and  others  which  it  would  be  interesting  to  exam- 
ine as  to  their  operation  and  influence ;  but  the  partic- 
ular object  of  your  enquiry  is  the  establishment  for  the 
education  of  the  children  of  the  poor,  and  that  is  entirely 
distinct  from  the  two  already  named. 

His  system  embraced  the  two  extremes  of  society  ;  in 
his  school  the  .children  of  beggars  and  of  sovereigns 
were  to  be  taught  to  understand  in  what  their  duty  and 

*  To  Mr.  Elisha  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  This  and  a  subsequent  letter  about     later  developed  system  for  the  school  at 
Fellenberg's  school  at  Hofwyl,  are  inter-     Round  Hill, 
esting  as  connected  with  Mr.  Cogswell's 


Age  31.I  A   TRAVELLER'S   LIFE.  8 1 

their  happiness  consists It  was  a  noble  effort  and 

has  already  produced  great  good  ;  when  a  little  longer 
experiment  shall  have  cleared  it  of  some  of  its  theoretic 
excellences,  but  practical  defects,  it  will  produce  still 
greater,  and  very  probably  be  one  means  of  operating  a 
real  reformation  in  society I  am  sorry  that  I  can- 
not give  you  some  account  of  Pestalozzi's  academy  at 
Yverdun,  which  I  have  in  like  manner  visited.1 


Geneva,  June  12,  18 18.*  .  .  .  .  You  can  always 
have  this  comfort,  if  it  be  one,  to  assure  yourselves  that 
when  you  do  not  get  any  accounts  from  me,  nobody  else 
does.  My  neglect  of  duty  is  commonly  general,  not  par- 
ticular ;  a  fit  of  torpor  comes  over  me,  or  a  passion  for 
some  particular  pursuit  gets  entire  and  exclusive  possess- 
ion of  me  for  a  time,  and  then  I  do  not  write  to  any  one. 
I  change  my  place  a  few  hundred  miles,  or  some  other 
accident  puts  me  into  the  right  mood  again,  and  brings 
all  my  affections  into  life  —  I  sit  down  and  impart  them 
to  my  friends  as  they  flow  from  my  heart.  This  feverish 
kind  of  life  is  in  some  degree  common  to  every  traveller, 
there  can  be  no  steady  composure,  no  habitual  tranquil- 
lity, where  there  is  no  regular  employment,  no  inter- 
change of  friendship  and  love,  and  no  domestic  happi- 
ness ;  the  whole  world  is  a  sea,  and  the  only  refuge  from 
its  waves  is  in  the  little  isle  called  home I  spent  the 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  He  says  in  a  diary :  "  May  2Sth.  ining  his  institutions  and  minerals  — 
Over  the  Jura  to  Yverdun  —  called  on  Hatred  and  envy  of  Fellenberg — bad 
Pestalozzi  and  spent  the  day  in  exam-    order  —  no  obedience  in  scholars." 


82  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1818. 

month  of  May  in  a  solitary  but  happy  ramble  over  this 

charming  country I  sat  out  from  Geneva  the  1st 

day  of  the  month,  and  strolled  along  the  Swiss  side  of 

the  Lake  to  Lausanne Leaving  the  lake  I  turned 

northward,  towards  the  cantons  of  Fribourg  and  Berne, 
and,  as  the  high  mountains  were  as  yet  inaccessible  on 
account  of  the  glaciers  and  snow  which  still  covered  them, 
I  amused  myself  for  a  time  with  observing  the  curiosities 
and  manners  of  the  cities. 

Berne  is  a  dreadful  aristocracy,  in  which  the  mass 
of  the  people  have  hardly  a  civil  existence,  but  it  is  so 
administered  as,  in  this  case,  to  prove  the  truth  of  Pope's 
sophism  "  That  which  is  best  administered  is  best."  .... 
From  Berne  I  passed  by  Soleure,  the  baths  of  Schintz- 
nach,  and  the  ruined  walls  of  the  ancient  castle  of  the 
house  of  Hapsburg,  to  Zurich.  Here  also  exists  an 
aristocracy  ....  but  what  discomfited  me  more  than 
their  aristocracy,  there  exists  a  custom  of  dividing  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  into  two  distinct  societies,  which 
scarcely  ever  join.  I  was  quite  vexed  to  be  there  three 
days,  and  to  pass  most  of  my  time  in  company,  and 
not  to  see  a  single  female.     I  soon  got  tired  of  botanists 

and  mineralogists,  and  set  out  for  the  mountains 

I  was  very  glad  to  change  the  scene,  which  I  did  most 
completely  before  night,  in  entering  the  narrow  valley 
which  forms  the  canton  of  Glarus,  shut  up  between 
parallel  chains  of  the  loftiest  and  wildest  Alps. 

Fortunately  the  next  day  there  was  to  be  the  annual 
general  assembly  of  the  people.  I  was  curious  to  see 
how  a  pure  democracy  would  exercise  the  functions  of 
authority,  and  remained  there  for  that  purpose.     It  was 


Age  3i.]        GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  OF  GLARUS.  83 

Sunday,  the  day  on  which  these  meetings  are  generally 
held ;  in  the  morning  religious  service  began  at  six.  the 
sermon  was  something  like  an  election  one  with  us, 
an  exhortation  to  the  people  to  love  and  preserve  their 
liberty,  and  to  obey  the  governors  of  their  choice.  I 
was  charmed  with  the  spirit  of  toleration  which  reigns 
here,  Catholics  and  Protestants  worship  in  the  same 
church.  The  former  retired  to  give  place  to  the  latter, 
the  curtain  was  not  even  drawn  before  the  altar,  nor 
the  lamps  extinguished  during  the  whole  time  of  our 
service.  Having  a  letter  to  the  Landammann,  I  was 
invited  by  him  to  enter  the  procession  of  the  great 
council,  and  march  with  them  to  join  the  people.  Four 
old  veterans  composed  our  escort,  we  proceeded  through 
the  town  to  a  large  grass  plot  upon  one  side  of  it,  where 
we  found  nearly  three  thousand  citizens  assembled  to 
form  their  own  laws  and  choose  their  own  rulers.  I 
entered  this  circle  with  impressions  of  higher  respect 
than  I  should  have  had  in  the  presence  of  the  assem- 
bled sovereigns  of  Europe I  never  felt  such  an 

effect  as  was  produced  upon  me,  when  the  whole  assem- 
bly rose,  lifted  their  hands  and  pronounced  the  oath 
of  allegiance  —  to  liberty  and  the  laws  which  protect 
it.  Involuntarily  I  raised  my  own  hand  too,  for  an  in- 
stant I  forgot  I  was  not  a  citizen  of  Glarus.  In  a  few 
hours  the  whole  business  of  the  year  was  dispatched, 
Landammann  and  other  officers  chosen,  accounts  set- 
tled, new  laws  discussed,  and  all  with  the  greatest  order 
and  propriety.  Many  of  the  peasants  spoke,  some  with 
great  natural  eloquence.  At  four  in  the  afternoon  the 
whole  was  finished,  although  an  hour  had  been  allowed 


84  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1818. 

to  adjourn  for  dinner.    I  have  seen  no  wonder  in  Europe 

which  has  given  me  half  the  satisfaction 

I  must  boast  a  little  of  my  feals  of  walking,  because 
you  have  so  often  joked  me  about  the  chairs  at  Dough- 
ty's.  One  day  I  walked  five  and  forty  miles,  and  several 
forty,  and  contented  myself  with  a  single  chair  in  the 
evening,  what  do  you  think  of  that  for  a  man  whom  all 
the  world  is  expecting  to  see  in  his  grave  from  one 
month  to  another  ? 

Geneva,  July  16,  181 8.*  I  am  so  impatient  to 
scold  you,  my  dear  Mrs.  P.,  that  I  cannot  wait  to  have 
time  to  write  you  a  long  letter  —  how  could  you  have 
found  it  in  your  heart  to  reproach  me  with  having  made 
"  new  friends  "  whom  I  preferred  to  my  early  and  long 
proved  ones,  and  with  having  acquired  such  a  taste  for 
foreign  customs  and  manners  as  to  view  "my  own  with 
a  jaundiced  eye  ?  "  You  do  me  wrong,  cruel  wrong, 
my  dear  friend,  and,  as  you  appear  to  have  been  serious 
in  your  apprehensions,  I  must  be  serious  in  my  defense. 
I  would  not  willingly  have  given  you  the  pain,  which  I 
am  sure  it  will  do,  to  know  that  I  am  constantly  un- 
happy and  often  wretched,  from  the  dominion  of  that 
feeling  the  want  of  which  you  suppose.  The  separation 
from  everything  I  love  in  the  world  preys  upon  my 
health,  and  devours  my  substance  more  than  all  the 
physical  maladies  which  have  attacked  me ;  it  is  to 
counteract  its  influence  and  still  its  gnawing  that  I  give 
myself  so  ardently  to  the  pursuit  of  a  chosen  branch 
of   science,  and    seize    every  opportunity  of  attaching 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


Age  31.]  PEDESTRIAN  FEATS.  85 

myself  to  some  j^erson  or  thing  on  this  side  the  water, 
in  the  hope  of  finding  a  present  object  to  charm  away, 
or  at  least  deaden  the  devouring  regrets  I  feel  for  absent 
ones. 

The  day  before  yesterday  I  returned  from  a  four 
weeks'  journey  in  Switzerland,  during  which  I  had 
walked  nine  hundred,  and  rode  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles.1  My  last  night's  resting  place  was  Lausanne, 
forty  good  English  miles  from  here.  I  will  not  tell  you 
what  forced  marches  I  had  made  for  a  week  previous, 
because  you  would  hardly  believe  me  if  I  did,  but  I 
must  tell  you  what  I  did  on  this  day,  for  I  have  clouds 
of  witnesses  to  prove  it,  and  it  touches  closely  on  the 
question  now  under  discussion.  The  coaches  which 
ply  regularly,  between  that  place  and  this,  leave  there 
in  the  morning  at  five,  and  reach  here  at  seven  in  the 
evening.  This  would  have  been  too  late  for  my  ob- 
ject,—  which  was  to  arrive  before  six,  the  hour  of 
shutting  the  counting-rooms  of  the  bankers,  in  which  I 
calculated  to  find  my  letters.  I  sat  out,  therefore,  on 
foot,  at  4  a.  m.  and  kept  on  a  steady  pace,  which  brought 
me  here  at  \  past  4  p.  m.  From  midday  till  3  the  road 
was  like  the  street  from  Naples  to  Portici,  when  Corinna 
went  in  quest  of  her  lover,  nothing  that  had  life  was  to 
be  seen  in  motion  except  myself,  and  never  was  it 
warmer,  scarcely,  upon  the  burning  lava  which  paves 
the  street    above    referred    to.      My   sole    motive    for 

1  During  his  excursions  this  summer,  tion  of  the   distinguished   engineer,   M. 

Mr.  Cogswell  visited  parts  of  Switzerland  Escher  de  la  Linth,  he  also  visited  the 

which,  for   long   after,   were   almost  un-  glacier  of  the  Bernina.     The  fashion  of 

known  to  the  usual   tourist,  such  as  St.  Alpine  climbing  and  exploration  had  not 

Moritz  in  the  Engadine.     At  the  sugges-  yet  begun  to  prevail. 


86  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [,SiS. 

making  this  exertion  was  to  procure  my  expected  letters 
from  America,  and  thanks  to  you,  my  dear  Mrs.  P.  and 
other  friends  there,  I  was  not  disappointed.  Now  I  ask 
you,  as  the  wife  of  a  judge,  and  as  one  learned  in  the 
law,  if  this  offers  any  evidence  that  the  affections  I  once 
cherished,  and  the  interest  I  once  felt  in  home  and 
home  friends  have  in  the  least  degree  diminished 

As  to  the  second  charge,  of  diminished  love  of  coun- 
try, this,  if  possible,  has  less  foundation  than  the  first. 
In  truth  all  I  have  seen  abroad  serves  only  to  attach 
me  still  more  strongly  to  the  substantial  parts  of  my 
own  country,  and  though  I  might  wish  to  change  some 
of  its  institutions  and  customs,  I  never  was  so  firmly  con- 
vinced in  my  life  as  I  now  am,  that  it  is  the  best  and 
happiest  in  the  world  (reserve  being  made  for  England 
not  yet  seen) 

Yesterday  morning  I  called  upon  a  lady,  one  of  my 
particular  acquaintances  here,  and  told  her  how  sad 
some  of  my  letters  had  made  me,  and  the  reason  of  it. 
She  said  she  wished  she  could  see  the  friend  who  had 
brought  such  charges  against  me,  for  she  would  tell  her 
how  unjust  they  were,  and  give  her  some  of  the  proofs 
she  had  seen  of  the  constancy  of  my  home  affec- 
tions  

I  am  remarkably  well,  better  than  at  any  time  these 
ten  years  past,  and  what  stronger  proof  could  I  give 
of  it  than  an  account  of  my  pedestrious  feats  this  sum- 
mer.    My  walking  in  all,  since  May  i,  amounts  to  about 

seventeen  hundred  miles No  professed  guide  in 

the  country  has  been  able  to  follow  me.  I  have  grown 
fat  and  rosy  notwithstanding  all  these  labors.     I  have 


Age  31.]  SECOND    VISIT  TO  HOFWYL.  87 

walked  from  3  in  the  morning  till  noon  without  having 
tasted  a  particle  of  any  kind  of  food,  over  a  mountain 
which  separates  Italy  from  Switzerland,  the  most  diffi- 
cult of  ascent  of  all  I  have  seen,  exposed  to  the  burning 
heat  of  the  sun,  sometimes  deep  as  I  could  wade  in  the 
snow,  and  all  this  after  a  continuation  of  such  labors 
for  weeks  together,  ten  days  of  which  in  a  country 
which  could  not  afford  me  one  mouthful  of  meat,  and 
I  bore  it  beyond  example Throughout  Switzer- 
land my  name  is  up  as  the  greatest  pedestrian  of  the 
age,  and  sure  it  is  that  I  have  performed  feats  which 
would  have  made  my  fortune  in  England.  I  boast  of 
these  things  to  you  merely  to  give  you  proof  of  my 
present  good  condition 


Paris,  September  1,  18 18*  .  .  .  .  I  have  paid  a  second 
visit  to  Mr.  de  Fellenberg,  at  Hofwyl,  with  even  greater 
satisfaction  than  I  made  my  first.  It  was  the  day  pre- 
ceding a  short  vacation  they  have,  once  a  year,  of  three 
weeks.  Upon  this  occasion  Mr.  de  F.  gives  the  boys  a 
little  festival.  It  consisted  in  a  concert,  in  which  three 
fourths  of  the  whole  school  joined,  for  music  he  con- 
siders a  very  important  part  of  education,  —  after  which 
a  simple  repast  was  given  them  in  the  grove  adjoining 
the  house,  and  more  heartfelt  joy  I  never  witnessed  in 
my  life,  not,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  because  they  were  about 
to  relax  from  their  labors,  but  because  they  had  the 
happiness  to  be  placed  for  their  education  in  a  school, 
the  head  of  which  was  rather  a  father  than  a  master  to 

*  To  Mr.  E.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


88  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1818. 

them.  I  saw  a  thousand  proofs  of  the  sentiments  they 
entertain  toward  each  other,  and  nothing  could  resemble 
more  a  tender  and  solicitous  parent,  surrounded  by  a 
family  of  obedient  and  affectionate  children.  There 
was  the  greatest  equality  and  at  the  same  time  the  great- 
est respect,  a  respect  of  the  heart  I  mean,  not  of  fear ; 
instructors  and  pupils  walked  arm  in  arm  together, 
played  together,  ate  at  the  same  table,  and  all  without 
any  danger  to  their  reciprocal  rights  ;  how  delightful  it 
must  be  to  govern,  where  love  is  the  principle  of  obedi- 
ence. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Edinburgh.  —  Winter  of   1818-1819.  —  Sou  they.  —  Walter  Scott.— 
Mrs.  Grant  of  Laggan.  — Jardine. 

T7DINBURGH,  November  21,  1818*  ....  I  did 
*—^  not  remain  in  Paris  much  above  a  week,  after  I 
wrote  to  you  from  there,1  and  that,  though  not  over  oc- 
cupied, was  as  good  as  lost,  for  all  things  did  not  go  to 
my  mind,  in  consequence  of  which  I  had  the  longest 
and  most  stubborn  fit  of  the  blues  that  has  ever  preyed 

upon  me  in  Europe In   London  the  exact  reverse 

was  the  case.  I  was  happy  as  a  king,  but  as  I  did  not 
stay  there  quite  a  month,  I  had  my  hands  full  of  busi- 
ness  

The  pleasant  occurrence  of  the  day  [in  the  Lake  Dis- 
trict] was  a  visit  I  made  to  Southey  at  his  house  near 
Keswick.  I  found  him,  as  you  would  suppose,  from 
what  you  have  seen  of  his  various  learning,  exceedingly 
rich  in  conversation,  ready  upon  whatever  subject  was 
started,  talking  well  upon  all  and  eloquently  upon  many, 
but  discovering  much  less  fancy  than  I  had  expected 
to  find  in  a  man  who  has  created  so  many  classes  and 
hosts  of  imaginary  beings.  In  fact  he  surprised  me 
more   in  the  extent  and  minuteness  of  his   knowledge 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 
1  September  10. 


90  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1818. 

than  in  the  display  of  his  own  genius  and  power.  He 
is  now,  evidently,  too  much  of  a  party  politician  to  be 
a  great  poet ;  he  talked  of  a  church  establishment  as 
indispensable  to  a  nation's  security  and  prosperity,  of 
hereditary  monarchy  as  the  only  government  suited 
to  the  character  of  man,  of  the  impracticability  of  Eng- 
lish reform,  and  maintained  all  the  high  church,  high 
ministerial  doctrines,  with  an  earnestness  I  have  found 
in  no  other  man  in  England.  As  to  America,  like 
everybody  else  in  Euroj3e,  he  is  totally  ignorant  of  the 
character  and  spirit  of  the  people  and  the  genius  of  its 
institutions,  but  profoundly  and  minutely  learned  in 
its  history.  I  was  delighted  to  hear  him  say  that  Cotton 
Mather  was  a  genius  of  high  order,  because  I  always 
thought  him  so  myself.  .... 

He  is  engaged  upon  another  poem,  about  America, 
of  which  he  read  some  parts  to  me,  vastly  inferior  to 
"  Madoc."  I  do  not  believe  he  will  ever  finish  it,  and  if 
he  does,  I  fear  it  will  neither  do  him  nor  us  any  credit.1 
He  is  also  engaged  in  writing  a  life  of  Roger  Williams, 
of  which  I  might  say  just  the  reverse  of  what  I  did  of 
the  poem.  What  a  shame  it  is  that  we  suffer  Euro- 
peans to  steal  away  from  us  the  honor  of  bringing 
before  the  world  the  persons  remarkable  in  our  own 
history 

Before  I  reached  Edinburgh  I  made  a  zigzag  sort 
of  track  through  the  Arcadian  land  of  Scotland,  the 
Teviot-  and  Tweed-dales,  in  search  of  spots  famed  in 
border  war  and  border  song I  had  the  pleasure 

1  The  poem  referred  to,  Oliver  New-  published  after  Southey's  death  in  its  in- 
vian,  was  in  fact  never  finished,  and  was     complete  state. 


Age  32.]  SCOTLAND.  9 1 

to  bring  Arthur's  Seat  and  Salisbury  Craig  to  bear 
south  of  me,  in  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday  the  28th 
of  October,  and  to  come  to  anchor  at  the  Royal  Hotel, 

Prince's  Street,  Edinburgh I  only  remained  here 

a  few  days  and  then  set  out  upon  a  little  Highland  tour 
round  Loch  Katrine  and  Loch   Lomond,  from  which  I 

have  been  back  somewhere  about  a  week 

I  have  been  so  long  used  to  set  apart  my  mornings 
for  study  and  my  evenings  for  recreation,  that  I  have 
found  it  difficult  to  make  the  change  which  I  now  find 
requisite  here  ;  for  as  nobody  gets  up  till  after  daylight 
(which  at  this  season,  in  the  lat.  of  56,  is  not  till  the  sun 
has  crossed  the  meridian)  I  can  neither  get  fire  nor 
breakfast,  and  must  consequently  lie  in  bed.  I  am  now 
nearly  broken  in,  and  shall  soon  be  able  to  work  as  late 
at  night  as  anybody. 

Edinburgh,  December  18,  1818*.  .  .  .  Nothing  ever 
cooled  my  ardor  for  mineralogy  so  much  as  hearing  it 
taught  by  such  a  cobbler  as  Professor  Jamieson,  and  at 
the  same  time  nothing  could  inspire  me  with  a  higher 
relish  for  the  cultivation  of  imagination  and  taste  than 
the  example  of  their  charms  in  the  elegant  mind  of 
Scott.  Do  not  suppose,  however,  that  I  mistake  my 
own  powers  so  much  as  to  disregard  the  course  which 

nature  has  marked  out  for  me I  shall  have  neither 

the  vanity  nor  folly  to  attempt  to  soar  on  the  wings  of 
fancy,  for  these,  when  made  of  wax,  melt  the  first  lofty 
flight.  I  have  already  secured  myself  against  defection, 
having  written  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  permission 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


92  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

to  go  up  the  Missouri  with  the  expedition I  want 

only  the  protection  of  the  armed  force,  and  liberty  to 
pursue  my  inquiries  in  my  own  way 

Edinburgh,  January  4,  18 19.*  .  .  .  .  I  had  a  great 
desire  to  spend  my  holidays  in  travelling  over  the 
country  ....  but  at  this  season  the  days  are  so  very 
short  one  can  make  but  little  progress,  and  I  had  an 
invitation  to  make  one  of  a  festive  party  at  a  rich 
laird's  in  Fifeshire,  which  everybody  advised  me  to 
accept,  if  I  would   know  what  Scotch   hospitality  upon 

a  grand  scale   is We  were  in   all   between  forty 

and  fifty,  and  each  accommodated  with  separate  cham- 
bers, and  consequently  an  equal  number  of  beds  and 
fires  were  to  be  made  every  day.  Such  an  establish- 
ment necessarily  requires  a  host  of  servants,  and  in  this 
respect  so  complete  was  the  whole  arrangement,  that 
each  room  had  its  appropriate  valet  de  chambre 

The  mode  of  life  during  the  ten  days  was  pleasant 
as  a  novelty,  but  it  would  have  soon  tired  me ;  the 
sports  of  the  field   furnished  the   regular  amusement  of 

the    day,  and   cards  and   dancing   of  the    night 

The  call  to  arms  was  the  first  sound  after  breakfast 
every  morning,  and  the  field  always  taken  by  twelve, 
but  the  choice  was  left  to  each  one  to  amuse  himself 
in  any  other  way  he  preferred ;  and,  as  there  was  a  fine 
library   and    an   excellent    cabinet    of  minerals    in    the 

house,  I  sometimes  chose  to  remain  at  home At 

four  everybody  was  driven  to  the  house  by  the  coming 
;on  of  night,  and  the  two  next  hours  filled  up  with  read- 

*  To  Mrs.  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  32]  CHANGE   OF  PLANS.  93 

ing  the  newspapers  and  dressing  for  dinner.  We  com- 
monly sat  at  table  till  ten,  and  concluded  this  round 
of  idle  employments  with  dancing  or  card  playing,  and 
retired  to  bed  between  one  and  two.  I  was  glad  to  see 
somewhat  of  this  sort  of  life,  but  still  more  glad  when 
it  was  over It  is  paying  very  dear  for  a  knowl- 
edge of  society  to  stand  such  a  siege  of  festivities.  A 
Scotch  laird  does  not  prove  his  hospitality  as  heretofore 
by  getting  all  his  guests  drunk,  but  it  is  still  displayed 
in  too  much  wine  and  whiskey  drinking  for  a  man  of 
sober  habits  like  myself. 


Edinburgh,  February  19,  18 19*  .  .  .  .  It  is  my  privi- 
lege to  be  fickle,  you  know,  or  rather  it  is  my  misfortune 
to  appear  so.  In  July  I  wrote  you  from  Geneva  that  I 
was  going  to  Greece  with  Mr.  Everett ;  in  November, 
from  this  place,  that  I  had  given  up  that  project  and 
resolved  to  join  the  expedition  bound  to  the  West ;  and 
now  I  must  tell  you  that  this  also  is  dropped,  and  that 
I  am  going  back  to  Germany. 

I  got  accounts,  a  few  days  since,  that  I  was  already 
too  late  for  the  expedition,  the  first  of  March  being  fixed 
upon  as  the  time  of  its  departure  from  St.  Louis  ;  and 
on  the  same  day  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Thorndike, 
urging  me   to    return  to  Germany   with   Augustus,  to 

remain  six .  months  or  a  year I  advised    Mr.  T. 

to  the  adoption  of  this  plan  with  Augustus,  and  thereby 

was  bound  to  accompany  him    if  he   wished  it 

No  man  pays  so  dear  for  knowledge  as  he  who  gets 
it  by  travelling.     It  is  impossible  to  be  away  from  home 

*  To  Dudley  Atkins,  Boston. 


94  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

and  be  happy ;  if  it  be  remembered  and  loved,  there 
is  no  heart  aching  like  that  which  absence  from  it 
causes  ;  and  if  it  be  forgotten,  you  might  as  well  talk 
of  happiness  in  a  block  of  marble,  as  in  the  heart  of 
him  who  is  dead  to  this  feeling.  My  love  of  inanimate 
nature  has  grown  out  of  my  unchanging  attachment 
to  my  native  soil.  I  wanted  to  find  something,  where- 
ever  I  went,  which  I  had  loved  before  at  home. 


Edinburgh,  February  19,  18 19.*  .  .  .  .  A  few  days 
before  Playfair's  illness  I  was  dining  at  his  house  in 
company  with  Mr.  Wallis  the  mathematician,  Jardine,1 
and  some  others,  when  the  subject  of  observatories 
came  up,  and  brought  on  a  curious  discussion.  Wallis 
said  that  a  mercurial  horizon  would  be  sensibly  affected, 
upon  the  pillars  for  their  transit  instrument  (which  are 
at  least  600  feet  from  any  road  and  1 50  above),  by  the 
passage  of  a  carriage  in  the  street.  Playfair  offered 
him  a  bet  to  the  contrary,  and,  by  experiment  since 
made,  Wallis  won  ;  as  he  did  another  made  with  Jar- 
dine,  that  the  same  artificial  horizon  would  be  affected 
by  tapping,   even  with  a   common   silver   pencil    case, 

upon  any  part  of  the  pillar Their    observatory 

is   placed  upon   Calton   Hill,  as    I   think,  too  high ;  its 

foundation  is  the  solid  whinstone  of  the  hill I 

am  quite  intimate  with  Jardine,  and  will  ask  him  if  he 
has  made  any  important  improvements,  and  communi- 
cate whatever  I  get. 

*  To  Prof.  Farrar,  Cambridge. 


1  Under  whose  direction  the  Observatory  was  building. 


Age  32.]  LETTERS  FROM  EDINBURGH.  95 

Edinburgh,  February  19,  18 19.*  .  .  .  .  Scott,  as  I 
have  told  you  before,  is  to  give  us  a  treat  of  another 
series  of  "  Tales  of  my  Landlord  "  shortly.  You  would 
be  charmed  with  this  fellow.  There  never  was  anybody 
like  him  for  simplicity  of  manners,  good  humor,  spirit 
in  conversation,  variety  of  learning,  anecdotes,  and  all 
that  constitutes  a  pleasant  companion 

Hogg's  "  Jacobite  Songs  "  are  in  the  press.  A  hun- 
dred of  them  are  taken  from  Sophia  Scott's  (Walter's 
eldest  daughter's)  recitation,  existing  nowhere  else  but 
in  her  memory.  You  see  how  he  has  been  made  a 
poet. 

Edinburgh,  March  21,  1819.!  .  .  .  .  Dear  George  and 
I  parted  about  a  fortnight  since.  I  accompanied  him  as 
far  as  Walter  Scott's  country  house  (about  forty  miles 
from  Edinburgh)  with  whom  we  spent  a  few  days,  and 
then  bade  him  adieu  with  as  sorrowful  a  heart  as  I  ever 
had  to  bear  up  under  in  all  my  life. 

Edinburgh,  March  23,  1  Sig.t  .  .  •  .  Since  you  left 
me  I  have  sunk  into  a  lower  deep,  and  have  wholly 
refused  to  be  comforted,  although  Mrs.  Grant1  has  tried 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  Elisha  Ticknor,  Boston. 

\  To  G.  Ticknor,  London. 


1  Mrs.  Anne  Grant  of  Laggan,  a  wo-  letter  to  his  sister,  he  says,  "  Mrs.  Grant, 

man  of  strongly  marked  character  and  of  whom  we  all   know  so  well  in  America 

uncommon  culture,  the  friend  of  Scott,  by   her    interesting    '  Letters    from    the 

and  of  all  who  were  worth  knowing  in  Mountains,'  has  treated  me  with  maternal 

Scotland  at  this  time.     Many  little  notes  kindness,  and  her  house  has  been  to  me 

from  her,  and  some   letters,  written  in  a  as  a  home."    He  is  mentioned  in  a  letter 

playful  and  familiar  tone,  to  Mr.  Cogs-  of  hers,  included  in  her  Memoirs, 
well,  remain  among  his  papers.     In  a 


96  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

all  in  her  power  to  do  it.  I  arrived  in  town  in  season, 
the  day  I  left  yon,  to  appear  at  her  party  in  the  evening. 
....  I  have  not  heard  a  word  from  Scott  since  we  left. 
Skecn  has  not  yet  come  to  town,  and  for  that  reason  I 
fear  he  continues  ill.  Mrs.  Scott  had  half  a  dozen 
hysteric  fits,  when  I  gave  her  the  letter  from  Sophia. 
I  never  was  more  distressed  in  my  life.  There  was  no 
one  in  the  house  but  the  servant  boy  and  Charles,  and  I 
knew  not  what  to  do,  and  poor  Charles  was  in  perfect 
agony. 

[Edinburgh,]  Friday  Evening,  9I/1  April,  [181 9.]* 
This  is  my  last  evening  in  Edinburgh,  and  I  have  spent 
it  at  Mrs.  Grant's,  as  you  did  your  last,  my  dearest  G. 
....  Had  I  gone  from  here  three  weeks  since,  I  should 
have  spared  myself  many  of  the  regrets  which  the  daily 
visits  to  Mrs.  Grant's,  and  Mrs.  Fletcher's,1  during  this 

period  have  prepared  for  me I  saw  Constable  this 

morning,  who  returned  on  Tuesday  from  Abbotsford, 
where  he  left  Scott  quite  well. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  London. 

1  Mrs.  Fletcher  was  one  of  the  leaders  anecdote  which    he    used    to  tell   with 

in  the  intellectual  society  of  Edinburgh  great    glee,  of   an   occasion   when    two 

at  this  time,  and  her  charms  of  mind  and  young   ladies  of  his   acquaintance   were 

manner  were  acknowledged,  most  fully,  going   to  a  party  in  a  sedan  chair,  Mr. 

then  and  for  long  after.     There  are  very  Cogswell  and  another  young  man  serv- 

cordial  notes  from  her  to  Mr.  Cogswell,  ing  as  escort  or  fool-guard.     The  gentle- 

among  his  papers.  men,  in  the  real  spirit  of  mischief,  dis- 

In  a  letter,  written  three  days  before  placed   the  bearers   of  the  sedan  chair, 

this,  he  says,  "  From  a  mere  love  of  fun  and  taking  the  burden  themselves,  con- 

I  have  put  five  young  men  up  to  falling  trived,  by  the  intentional  irregularities  of 

in  love  with  the  same  lady,  and  once  or  their  gait,  and  the  choice  of  rough  ways, 

twice,  in  a  moment  of  great  wickedness,  to  bring  their  fair  charges,  in  safety,  but 

I  have  thought  of  stepping   in   and   at-  in  a  breathless  state  of  indignation  and 

tempting  to  supplant  them  all."  discomfort  to  their  destination. 

To  this  visit  to  Edinburgh  belongs  an 


CHAPTER  X. 

Dresden.  —  Summer  of  1819.  —  Carlsbad.  —  Toplitz.  —  Second  and 
Third  Visits  to  Goethe. —  Letter  from  Goethe. —  Grand  Duke  of 
Weimar. 

/^OTTINGEN,  May  3,  1819*  ....  I  have  had  a 
^-*  very  refreshing  visit  here ;  the  pleasure  that  most 
of  our  old  friends  discovered  upon  seeing  me  again  was 
gratifying  to  my  self-love,  and  comforting,  as  a  proof  that 
these  recluses  have  a  great  deal  more  heart  than  I  before 
supposed.  Blumenbach,good  soul,  made  the  welkin  ring 
when  he  heard  my  name  announced  ;  the  Obermedicinal- 
r'athin  skipped  round  as  if  she  had  not  been  more  than 
twenty ;  Adele  spoke  a  warm  and  hearty  welcome,  and 

the  Frau  von  Jasmund  looked  unutterable  things 

The  Hofrath  and  Hofr'athin  Sartorius  were  no  less  cor- 
dial in  their  greeting,  and  I  might  add  the  same  of 
Eichhorn,  Heeren,  Fiorillo,  Stromeyer,  Benecke,  and 
above  all  Hausmann. 

Dresden,  May  18,  18 19*  The  next  visit  of  any 
interest  to  you  which  I  made  was  to  Goethe ;  —  he  was 
not  merely  gracious,  but  affectionate  and  playful  even,  — 
but  he  is  breaking,  and  will  never  do  much  more  to 
increase  his  fame.  I  spent  all  my  time  in  Weimar  with 
him,  which  was  one   evening  only:   at  supper  he  was 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
'3 


9©  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

unusually  gay.  His  only  remaining  friend,  Meyer,  was 
present,  a  Baron  "  chose  "  whom  I  did  not  know,  and  a 

pretty  little  lively  girl We  sat  till  midnight,  and 

of  course  you  will  conclude  we  must  have  been  in  glee, 
as  such  things  are  not  often  done  in  Germany.  I  made 
him  talk  of  the  literature  of  the  day,  and  he  confirmed 
all  I  wrote  from  Hamburg  about  the  low  state  in  which 
it  is.  He  was  enthusiastic  in  his  praises  of  Byron,  pro- 
nounced him  the  greatest  and  the  only  living  poet,  which 
was  no  small  gratification  to  me,  from  its  coincidence 

with  my  own  opinion We  reached  Dresden  the 

13th,  and,  after  making  all  possible  inquiries,  we  find  we 
cannot  get  up  an  establishment  at  Tharandt  or  the 
neighborhood,  and  accordingly  I  have  got  T.  into  the 
family  of  Prof.  Hermann,  where  I  trust  he  will  do  well. 

Dresden,  May  28,  18 19*  ....  My  maxim  is  to  com- 
ply with  all  modes,  and  consequently  I  sit  under  the 
trees  here  as  much  as  anybody.  The  good  lady  with 
whom  I  live  has  a  pleasant  garden  a  short  distance  from 
town,  to  which  she  goes  regularly  every  day  as  soon  as 
dinner  is  over,  and  is  there  joined  by  a  number  of  her 
friends,  who  spend  the  afternoon  in  such  employment  as 
they  find  most  agreeable,  commonly  in  some  kind  of 
needlework,  while  one  of  the  company  reads  for  their 
edification.  At  six  her  husband  and  myself  lay  aside 
our  labors,  and  go  out  to  get  our  tea  with  them,  and 
there  we  sit  listening   to  gossiping    stories    till    nearly 

dark I  shall  ever  be  indebted  to  my  residence  in 

Europe  for  a  new  sense  of  enjoyment,  a  taste  for  and 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


Age  32.]  ARTICLES  IN  BLACKWOOD.  99 

sympathy  with  nature.  It  has  already  comforted  me 
under  the  want  of  human  sympathies,  and  renders  me 
every  day  more  and  more  independent  of  those  sources 
of  happiness  which  I  can  never  hope  to  enjoy.1 

Dresden,  'Jtdy  10,  18 19.*  .  .  .  .  Tell  your  father  that 
our  friend  Fellenberg,  at  Hofwyl,  has  lately  been  at- 
tacked, in  an  octavo  of  several  hundred  pages,  by 
Sprengel,  the  great  econome  of  Schillerschlage.  The 
ground  of  attack  is  the  system  of  agriculture  adopted  by 

Fellenberg He  spares  the  poor  school,  the  part 

of  the  Institution  which  lies  nearest  the  heart  of  your 
father  and  myself.  .... 

Bottiger  asked  me  who  wrote  the  articles  in  Black- 
wood upon  America,2  and  I  told  him.  Without  saying 
one  word  more  he  sent  them  to  Goschen,  the  publisher 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  Another  passage  of  this  letter  de-  a  The  articles  referred  to  are  in  fact 
serves  a  place  here.  "  Every  letter  I  one,  divided,  and  published  in  BUick- 
receive  from  you,  my  dear  Mrs.  P.,  af-  wood's  Magazine  for  February  and  March, 
fords  me  new  cause  to  admire  the  un-  1819.  The  title  is  "Means  of  Educa- 
exampled  fidelity  of  your  friendship  for  tion  and  State  of  Learning  in  the  United 
me.  Who  but  you  would  have  borne  States  of  America,"  and  the  argument 
with  me,  in  all  my  waywardness,  and  that  the  means  of  acquiring  high  educa- 
childish  '  uncertainty  of  feeling '  as  the  tion  were  at  that  moment  lamentably 
President  calls  it ;  who  but  you  would  defective,  classical  learning  was  under- 
have  taken  the  trouble  to  write  me  so  valued,  knowledge  sought  only  for  its 
many  and  such  tender,  and  pathetic,  and  utility,  and  that  the  demand  for  active 
eloquent  exhortations  to  stop  in  my  talent  drew  it  away  from  letters.  Never- 
supposed  mistaken  career,  or  cared  at  theless  he  denies  the  justice  of  the  opin- 
all  for  one  so  perverse  and  reckless  of  ion  held  in  Europe  of  the  inferiority  of 
advice  as  I  am.  Be  not  discouraged,  American  intellect,  and  rests  its  defence 
dear  lady.  If  you  do  not  effect  exactly  on  the  talent  shown  at  the  Bar  and  in 
what  you  aim  at,  you  excite  the  liveliest  Congress,  and  on  such  names  as  Fisher 
sense  of  gratitude  m  the  heart  of  him  for  Ames,  Jonathan  Edwards,  Dr.  Bovvditch, 
whose  welfare  you  labor,  which  nothing  and  others  in  science, 
external  can  weaken." 


IOO  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819- 

of  "Amerika  dargestellt  durch  sich  sclbst,"  and  I  had 
the  mortification  to  read  the  following  in  his  paper  a  few- 
days  afterward:  "  Wir  verdanken  folgenden  Aufsatz  der 
Giite  seine  verfassers,  des  Herrn  J.  G.  C.  aus  Boston, 
welcher  sich  jetzt  in  Dresden  auf halt,  und  uns  die 
Erlaubniss,"  etc.,1  a  most  infamous  and  impudent  lie  on 
his  part,  and  a  most  unjustifiable  liberty  on  the  part 
of  Bottiger.  "  Good  enough  for  you,"  you  will  say,  no 
doubt.     I  pray  you  to  say  so,  however,  only  to  yourself. 


[Carlsbad],  Sunday,  I'&th  \_July,  18 19].*  ....  On 
coming  away  from  the  spring  this  morning,  after  drink- 
ing half  a  dozen  glasses  of  the  water,  I  found  myself 
just  in  the  right  mood  for  the  enjoyment  of  nature,  and 
as  it  was  Sunday  and  no  church  here  but  a  Catholic 
one,  I  strolled  away  to  the  mountains,  to  worship  God 
in  the  midst  of  some  of  his  sublimest  works.  Follow- 
ing the  little  stream  which  runs  through  Carlsbad,  up- 
ward along  its  beautifully  wooded  banks,  about  a  mile, 
I  came  to  a  very  lovely,  but  lonely  glen,  in  which  was 
a  single  cottage,  and  there,  under  the  shade  of  a  fine 
old  lime  tree,  which  stands  by  its  side,  I  refreshed  my- 
self with  an  admirable  breakfast,  listening  to  the  rip- 
pling of  the  water  and  the  murmuring  of  the  trees. 
Very  romantic  this,  you  will  say,  but  wait  for  something 
more  so. 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  «  \ye  are  indebted  for  the  following     in   Dresden,  and  has  given   us   permis- 
article  to  the  kindness  of  its  author,  Mr.     sion,"  etc. 
J.  G.  C.  from  Boston,  who  is  at  present 


Age  32]  CARLSBAD.  IOI 

While  I  was  sitting  there,  in  this  state  of  tranquil 
contemplation,  thinking  "how  happy  I  should  be  could 
I  transport  myself,  with  all  that  was  about  me,  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Boston,  and  change  my  solitude  for 
the  society  of  a  few  dear  friends,  the  voices  of  ladies, 
approaching,  roused  me  from  my  reverie,  which  I  soon 
recognized  to  be  those  of  the  friends  I  named  to  you 
yesterday, x  and  thus  my  wish  was  as  nearly  answered 
as  it  could  be  on  this  side  the  water.  The  ladies  par- 
took of  my  breakfast,  and  then  put  themselves  under 
my  command  for  a  forenoon  ramble  which  filled  up  our 
time  till  dinner. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  my  forenoon  walk  was  very 
pleasant,  but,  as  it  was  not  exactly  what  I  meant  it 
should  be,  a  geological  excursion  in  the  chasms  and 
clefts  of  the  rocks,  I  set  out  again  in  the  afternoon  to 
accomplish  my  project.  It  being  Sunday  the  woods 
were  absolutely  alive,  every  path  was  filled  with  wander- 
ers, and  every  hill  resounded  with  music,  which  obliged 
me  to  stretch  out  wide  from  town,  to  get  away  from 
the  crowd,  and  I  did  not  wholly  succeed  after  all.  To- 
ward evening  I  came  to  a  thick  forest,  and  entered  it, 
secure,  as  I  thought,  of  being  alone,  but  I  had  not  gone 
far  when  I  met  a  gentleman,  book  in  hand,  like  myself, 
and  from  the  size  and  binding  I  concluded  it  was  the 
same  as  mine.  This  impression  seemed  mutual  and 
excited  a  mutual  curiosity,  which  in  the  stranger  was 
stronger  than  his  pride,  and  accordingly  he  saluted  me, 

1  Members  of  the    Bonaparte    family,  chi   and  her    husband,    and  Count    and 

Jerome,  Comte  de  Monfort,  and  his  wife  Countess  Posse,   being  two   brothers,   a 

(a    Princess    of    Wurtemberg),    Louis,  sister,  and  a  niece  of  the  Emperor  Na- 

Comte  de  St.  Leu,  Princess  Elise  Bacioc-  poleon  I. 


102  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

and  said  "  I  am  seeking  such  a  spot,"  naming  it.  "  And 
I  too,"  said  I.  Of  course  we  went  on  together.  He  was 
a  Bohemian  Baron,  from  Prag,  whom  I  found  to  have 
some  things  in  common  with  myself,  particularly  an 
insatiable  curiosity.  We  continued  our  rambles  in  com- 
pany till  it  was  quite  dark.1 

Dresden,   August   3,   1 819.*  ....   I   returned   from 

Carlsbad  and    Toplitz  night  before  last I  doubt 

very  much  if  the  waters  were  of  any  service  to  me,  but 
the  exercise  certainly  was,  and  so  it  amounts  to  the 
same  thing.     I  am  vastly  better  than   I  was  when  I  left 

Dresden My  first  business   now  is  to  make  out 

my  lists  of  books  for  him,2  yourself,  and  others  who 
have  sent  me  orders,  and  go  to  Leipzig,  and  then  I  shall 
be  ready  for  my  departure,  and  I  am  very  free  to  say 
that  my  second  residence  in  Germany  has  quite  weaned 
me  from  that  strong  attachment  to  it  which  my  first 
one  gave  me.     Dresden  is  not  Gottingen 

Dresden,  August  4,  i8io.t  .  ■  .  .  My  companion  on 
my  return  was  a  very  sensible  man,  a  Senator  of  Ham- 
burg, and  the  Ambassador  from  that  free  Hanseatic 
city  to  the  Court  of  Saxony,  and  yet  I  learnt  nothing 
from  him.  He  could  not  tell  me  of  miracles  and  ghost 
stories  like  the  pretty  lady  who  went  with  me  to  Toplitz, 
nor  talk  with  me   about  mining  and  minerals  like  my 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  It  is  noticeable   in  all  these    letters     were  to  be  met  on  the  Continent  at  this 
that   very    few   English    or    Americans     period. 

2  Mr.  Augustus  Thorndike. 


Age  32.]  THE  KING    OF  PRUSSIA.  103 

fellow  traveller  from  thence  to  Carlsbad,  but  then  his 
carriage  was  very  easy  and  I  could  sleep  in  it,  and  at 
dinner  and  supper  he  brought  out  the  Bordeaux  and 
Hock  with  which  it  was  stored,  so  that  he  contributed 
to  my  pleasures  if  not  to  my  edification.  I  stopped 
again  at  Toplitz,  and  attended  a  ball,  at  which  his 
Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia1  and  many  other  great 
characters  were  present,  and  here,  for  once  in  my  life, 
I  was  upon  an  equality  with  royalty  and  royal  ministers, 
they  all  had  to  pay  their  40  cts.  entrance  money,  as 
well  as  myself.  The  King  was  dressed  exactly  like 
one  of  our  country  lawyers  in  court  time,  and  forsooth 
at  the  end  of  the  week,  when  the  clean  shirt  and  waist- 
coat begin  to  lose  their  whiteness.  He  had  on  a  Ber- 
lin Bond  St.  blue  coat,  with  gilt  buttons,  two  of  which 
were  eminently  conspicuous  between  the  shoulders,  it 
being  somewhat  short  in  the  back,  a  quondam  white 
waistcoat,  as  I  said  before,  a  pair  of  grays  like  those 
Mr.  Ashman  used  to  ride  from  Jackson  to  Belfast  in, 
and  Suwarrow  boots,  with  tassels  as  long  as  the  green 
ones  which  the  Ipswich  ladies  made  for  the  cushion 
of  Dr.  Dana's  pulpit,  a  common  round  hat  in  one  hand 
and  a  dandysticker  in  the  other.  It  went  against  the 
grain  to  say  "Your  Majesty"  to  Royalty  thus  disguised, 
but  as  I  was  presented  to  him  with  the  rest  of  the 
crowd,  I  could  not  dispense  with  it. 


Leipzig,  August  28,  1819*.  ...  I  have  just  returned 
here  from  the  journey  of  leave-taking  which   I   wrote 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 
1  Frederic  William  III. 


104  'JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

you  I  was  about  to  make.  I  went  first  to  Weimar  to 
see  Goethe,  and  as  he  was  absent  at  Jena  I  followed 
him  there.1  They  say  in  Germany  that  he  is  proud 
and  has  no  heart,  but  it  has  ever  been  my  good  fortune 
to  see  him  when  he  showed  none  of  his  pride,  and  to 
be  received  by  him  as  if  he  had  a  heart,  and  a  feeling 
one  too.  I  know  not  when  I  was  more  touched  at 
parting  from  a  person  to  whom  I  was  bound  by  no 
particular  tie,  than  from  him.  When  I  reached  Jena 
he  was  from  home.  I  waited  several  hours  to  see  him, 
and,  as  he  did  not  return  till  nearly  night,  I  could  re- 
main but  a  few  moments  with  him.  "  What  brings 
you  to  Jena?  "  said  he.  "  To  take  leave  of  you."  "  And 
how  long  will  you  stay  with  me?"  "  Half  an  hour." 
"  I  thank  you  from  my  heart  for  this  mark  of  your 
regard.  It  delights  me  to  find  that  you  take  such  an 
interest  in  me  in  my  old  age,  as  to  come  so  far  to  see 
me.  Keep  me,  I  beg  you,  in  friendly  remembrance." 
"Shall  I  write  to  you  when  I  return  to  America?" 
"  Yes,  but  you'll  not  wait  till  then  I  hope.  Let  me 
hear  from  you  often  while  you  remain  in  Europe." 
A  little  further  conversation  and  I  parted  from  him. 
He  embraced  and  kissed  me  affectionately  according 
to  the  German  custom,  and  the  tear  in  his  eye  con- 
vinced me  that  he  felt,  not  feigned,  what  he  expressed. 
Do  not  think  I  mean  to  make  out  of  this  a  case  to 
flatter  my  own  vanity.  Goethe's  attention  to  me  has 
been  highly  grateful,  I  confess,  but   it  gives   me   no  oc- 

1  It  is  odd  that  this  should  have  oc-     follow  him  from  Weimar  to  Jena.     The 
curred  again,   as,  on   his   first   visit    to    reason  is  given  in  each  case. 
Goethe,   Mr.   Cogswell  was   obliged  to 


Age  32.]  ADIEU   TO    GOETHE.  105 

casion  to  be  vain,  because  I  saw  clearly  it  was  my  heart 
and  not  my  mind  which  interested  him. 

Dresden,  Sept.  11,  1 819*  ....  I  never  thought  to 
have  found  such  a  heart  in  him,  and  it  almost  broke  my 
own  to  say  adieu  to  him  when  I  discovered  it.  "  And 
will  you  remember  me,"  said  he,  "  when  you  are  sur- 
rounded by  your  friends  at  home ;  and  may  I  believe 
that  there  is  a  heart  in  the  new  world  which  cares  for 
me  ?  "  I  do  not  presume  to  call  myself  Goethe's  friend, 
but  he  parted  from  me  as  if  he  were  willing  to  allow  me 
such  a  distinction,  and  I  parted  from  him  as  if  I  felt  the 
value  of  it.  I  looked  back  upon  the  house  in  which  he 
lived  till  I  was  out  of  sight  of  it,  as  I  should  have  done 
had  it  been  the  abode  of  the  dearest  of  friends.  This 
year  he  is  just  70,  his  birthday  was  celebrated  in 
Weimar,  Aug.  28,  and  on  that  account  he  went  away. 
"  I  am  too  old,"  said  he,  "  to  take  delight  in  the  anniver- 
sary." 

Mr.  Cogswell  had  before  this  time  received  letters 
from  Goethe.  One  only  was  found,  however,  among  his 
papers,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation.  The 
date  and  signature  alone  are  autograph. 

GOETHE   TO   J.    G.    COGSWELL. 

You  will  receive  with  this,  my  dear  friend  [mein 
Theuerster],  through  Messrs.  Bassange  &  Co.,  a  parcel 
containing  my  poetical  and  scientific  writings,  men- 
tioned in  the  list.     They  are  well  packed,  and  I  desire 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland 
14 


106  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [>8i9- 

they  should  not  be  taken  out.  Perhaps,  on  account  of 
the  long  journey,  you  will  have  them  inclosed  in  a  box  ; 
but  this  I  leave  to  you. 

If  you  can,  when  forwarding  to  your  dear  fellow- 
countrymen  these  results  of  my  studies  and  labors, 
represent  me  kindly  to  them,  I  shall  acknowledge  the 
favor  gratefully. 

I  also,  am  preparing  for  a  journey  to  Carlsbad,  but 
still  beg  you  will  send  to  me  here,  the  news  of  the  safe 
arrival  of  the  parcel.  I  could  have  wished  very  much  to 
be  able  to  study  with  you  some  remarkable  points  in 
that  important  mountain  region.  If  you  will  let  me 
know  what  numbers,  in  your  collection  of  Carlsbad 
minerals,  are  wanting,  I  can  perhaps  send  them  to  you. 

In  making  a  careful  study  of  Mr.  Warden's1  very 
interesting  works,  I  often  find  myself  transported  to 
your  home,  where  I  shall  visit  you  diligently  in  thought 
and  feeling,  if  you  really  leave  us. 

Be  happy  and  content,  and  let  us  hear  from  you  fre- 
quently, as  well  on  this  side  as  on  that.  I  am  eagerly 
expecting  the  promised  periodicals. 

Faithfully,  [Traulichst]  Goethe. 

Weimar,  the  nth  Aug.,  1819. 


Mr.  Cogswell  continues :  — 

Leipzig,  August  28,  1819*  ....  Another  great  satis- 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  The  works  by  Mr.  Warden  alluded  was    published   in    Edinburgh    in    1819. 

to  in   the  letter   are,  no  doubt,  those  of  Mr.   Cogswell    wrote    a    review   of  this 

David   Baillie  Warden,  whose  "  Statisti-  book,  which  was  published  in  the  North 

cal,  Political,  and   Historical  Account  of  American  for  July,  1821. 
the  United  States  of  North  America," 


Age  32.]  BL  UMENBA  CH.  1 07 

faction  I  enjoyed  in  this  part  of  my  journey  was  the  visit 
I  made  to  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar,  and  that  not 
because  he  is  a  Grand  Duke,  but  because,  being  a 
Grand  Duke,  he  is  also  highly  estimable  as  a  man.  He 
is  a  great  patron  and  friend  of  science,  and,  what  is 
better  as  a  prince,  a  great  friend  to  his  subjects,  and  if 
he  were  a  little  more  moral  in  some  respects,  he  would 
be  a  pattern  of  a  sovereign.  He  was  very  curious  to 
know  what  I  thought  of  Europe.  His  idea  was,  that 
everything  here  must  appear  to  me  to  be  in  ruins,  hav- 
ing lived  in  a  land  where  freshness  and  youth  are  the 
characteristics  of  every  object.  He  was  candid  enough, 
too,  to  say  he  supposed  we  were  free  from  moral  and 
political  corruptions,  and  I  should  have  confirmed  him 
in  the  belief  if  I  could  have  done  it  with  truth. 

From  Weimar  I  went  to  Gotha,  and  next  to  Got- 
tingen.1  It  was  hard  getting  away  from  the  latter,  and 
particularly  from  Blumenbach.  He  is  a  noble  soul,  and 
one  of  the  very  few  Germans  who  has  taken  any  hold 
of  my  affections.  He  said  to  me  when  I  came  away, 
"  Adieu,  but  not  for  the  last  time.  I  never  say  for  the 
last  time  to  any  one.  You  will  come  to  see  us  again  I 
am  sure.  Au  revoir.  Heaven  bless  and  guide  you." 
It  was  sad  parting,  too,  from  little  Bancroft.  He  is  a 
most  interesting  youth,  and  is  to  make  one  of  our  great 
men. 

1  During  this  visit  in  Gottingen,  Mr.  a  diploma  of  Ph.  D.  et  C.  M.  when  last 

Cogswell    received  a    degree  of   Doctor  in  Gottingen."     The  parchment  diploma 

of   Philosophy  from  the  University.     He  was  found  among  his  papers.     He  had 

alludes  to  it  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Ticknor  been   made  a   member   of  the   Helvetic 

(Dec.  4,   1819I.     "Your  mention  of  the  Society  of  Natural  History,  the  previous 

Cambridge   degrees  reminds   me  to  tell  summer,  1818,  and  the  diploma  for  this 

you  that  I   was  foolish  enough  to  take  was  also  preserved. 


I08  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['819- 

Prague,  October  i,  1819*  .  .  .  .  I  do  not  remember 
that  I  have  written  to  you  since  the  Michaelis  Messe 
Catalogue  came  out.    It  makes  a  very  poor  show  indeed, 

I  never  saw  it  so  meagre If  Germany's   literary 

reputation  is  not  on  the  wane,  or  rather,  if  the  propor- 
tion of  solid  learning  in  the  country  is  not  diminishing, 
I  am  very  much  deceived  in  the  opinion  I  have  formed 

during  my  last  residence  there Wherever  I  have 

been,  in  Dresden,  in  Leipzig,  in  Jena,  and  even  in 
Gottingen,  the  great  men  have  appeared  to  me  small  in 
comparison  with  their  stature  in  former  days,  and  in 
comparison,  too,  with  the  real  measure  of  practicable 
literary  greatness.  I  do  not  except  from  this  remark 
any  one  of  the  present  giants  in  Germany,  not  even 
Eichhorn  or  Blumenbach  ;  in  my  view  neither  of  them 
is  half  so  learned  as  he  ought  to  have  been  with  the 
opportunities  he  has  had.  What  then  do  I  say  of  our 
own  scholars  ?  Comparatively  they  deserve  a  vast  deal 
more  credit  than  the  Germans,  for  when  a  man  loses  the 
first  twenty  years  of  his  life,  it  is  no  small  praise  that  he 

advances  beyond  the  A  B  C  of  any  science Do 

not  say  I  am  contradicting  what  I  have  before  written 
and  published.  My  doctrine  always  has  been,  it  is  the 
defects  in  our  education  which  is  the  cause  of  all  our 
literary  inferiority.  I  am  glad  that  I  visited  this  city ; 
I  find  many  curious  things  in  it,  the  library  particularly. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Munich.  —  King  of  Bavaria.  —  Switzerland. —  Pestalozzi.  —  Tours. 

A/TUNICH,  Thursday,  jtk  [October,  1819.1]* My 

■*■»■■■  first  concern  this  morning  was  to  find  my  excellent 
and  faithful  friend  Schlichtegroll,  and  as  he  will  appear  so 
often  in  my  story,  I  must  tell  you  something  about  him, 
to  begin  with.  This  gentleman  is  at  present  the  Direc- 
tor, and  general  Secretary  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
in  this  place,  to  which  situation  he  was  called  about  ten 
years  since,  by  the  King  of  Bavaria,  from  Gotha,  where 
he  then  was  as  Director  of  the  superb  cabinet  of  med- 
als of  the  Duke  of  Saxe  Gotha.  He  is  a  man  of  no 
uncommon  genius,  but  a  first  rate  scholar  and  a  lover  of 
his  kind  in  as  great  a  degree  as  any  person  I  ever  saw  ; 
his  whole  life  is  devoted  to  the  good  of  humanity.  At 
the  time  of  our  first  acquaintance  he  took  a  fancy  to 
me,  and  we  have  since  remained  in  intimate  relations 
with  each  other,  through  the  medium  of  correspond- 
ence   The   reception    he  gave    me,  at   meeting 

this  morning,  touched  my  heart  like  the  embraces  of  a 
parent.  I  found  him  at  his  post  in  the  buildings  of  the 
Academy,  and  after  we    had  talked    over   our   several 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  The  contents   of  this    chapter    are    whom  he  kept  a  diary  of  this  journey 
wholly  addressed  to  Mrs.  Prescott,  for     from  Dresden  to  Tours. 


I  IO  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  (1819. 

adventures  since  our  parting,  he  led  me  into  the  Zoo- 
logical cabinet,  to  see  the  most  curious  of  all  the  ani- 
mals there,  a  certain  Professor  Oken  '  from  Jena,  the 
editor  of  a  scientific,  political  journal  called  the  "  Isis," 
which  has  been  so  open  in  its  remarks  upon  the  govern- 
ments of  Germany,  and  of  Europe  in  general,  that  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Saxe  Weimar  demanded  of  him  to  sup- 
press his  journal  or  resign  his  Professorship,  and,  like  a 
man  of  independent  spirit  as  he  is,  he  chose  the  latter. 
His  conversation  was  so  sensible  and  so  amusing,  that  I 
listened  to  it  for  two  hours,  and  probably  should  have 
continued  to,  if  we  had  not  been  interrupted  by  the 
coming  in  of  visitors  to  the  Museum,  who  proved  to 
be  two  old  acquaintances  of  mine,  Von  Froriep,  from 
Weimar,  and  Professor  Lebrecht  from  Stuttgard,  so 
strangely  is  a  traveller  always  falling  among  his  friends. 
My  afternoon  was  spent  with  Professor  Thiersch,  whom 
I  think  you  will  remember  as  the  rare  example  I  men- 
tioned, of  a   German  scholar  attentive  and  affectionate 

to   his   wife This  evening  we  all    met  at   a  tea 

party  to  which  Schlichtegroll  carried  me,  where  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  good  humor  and  gaiety,  but  nothing 
very  remarkable  except  that,  in  a  company  of  nearly 
forty  persons,  and  all  Germans  but  myself,  not  a  single 
individual  was  a  native  of  the  place  where  it  assem- 
bled  

Friday,  Zth I  called  this  morning  on  the  Rus- 
sian minister,  Count   Pahlen,  who   was  formerly  some 

1  The  eminent  naturalist,  author  of  an     ral   science,   afterwards,   in    1827,   made 
original  system  of  classification  and  no-     Professor  of  the  University  of  Munich, 
menclature,  and  of  many  works  on  natu- 


Age  33.]  MUNICH.  I  I  I 

time   at  our  own  court,  and   twice  at  Boston,  he  tells 

me He  is  one  of  the  best  bred  men  I  have  ever 

seen.  He  talked  with  me  almost  exclusively  about  my 
country,  which  he  loves  and  respects  very  highly,  and 
says  if  the  seat  of  Government  were  in  any  other  place 
but  that  mud  hole,  Washington,  he  should  go  back 
there,  as  he  can  do,  whenever  he  chooses.  I  never 
heard  a  foreigner  so  just  to  us,  and  never  one  who 
understood  us  so  well.  If  a  man  of  his  fairness  would 
write  a  book  about  us  it  might  do  some  good  to  our- 
selves ;  but  even  this  is  doubtful,  we  have  so  much  self- 
conceit  that  we  cannot  bear  censure,  whatever  tender- 
ness, and  candor,  and  solicitude  may  be  discovered  in 
making  it.  I  inquired  of  him  about  my  friend  Baron 
Schilling,  and  was  surprised  to  learn  that  he  was  then 
in  Munich.  It  was  a  curious  coincidence.  We  left 
and  returned  to  it  within  an  hour  of  each  other,  he, 
in  the  meantime  having  been  to  the  very  limits  of  the 
Russian  Empire,  and  I,  Heaven  only  knows  where. 
On  my  return  to  the  house  for  dinner  I  found  he  had 
ordered  a  plate  by  my  side,  and  was  soon  after  delighted 
to  see  his  jolly  corporation  seated  there.  This  man  is 
one  of  the  most  active  and  efficient  of  the  many  agents 
the  Emperor  Alexander  now  employs,  to  transplant 
into  his  dominions  whatever  is  good  and  useful  in  all 
others 

Saturday,  9//1 He    [Schilling]    and  Schlichte- 

groll  divide  my  time  between  them,  and  both  never 
seem  to  be  satisfied  with  showing  me  persons  and 
things  which  it  may  be  useful  for  me  to  see.     A  tribe 


112  JOSETH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['8'9- 

of  Russians,  consisting  of  Prince  Soltikoff,  and  Counts 
Woronzow  and  Ouvalow,  and  train,  arrived  here  last 
night,  on  their  way  to  Italy  to  winter,  all  of  whom  I  was 
carried  before  this  morning,  which  visits,  and  a  turn  in 
the  gallery  of  paintings,  occupied  me  till  dinner,  and 
afterwards  the  meeting  of  the  Academy,  of  which,  by 
the  influence  of  Schlichtegroll,  I  was  made  a  member 

in  March  last,1  till  the  hour  for  the  opera 

Tuesday,  i  ith.  We  have  had  merry  times  of  it  to-day, 
military  parades,  horse  races  and  various  other  public 
demonstrations  of  joy,  on  account  of  the  fete  du  roi. 
....  The  most  memorable  event  of  the  day  was  the 
appearance  of  his  Majesty2  at  the  theatre  in  the  even- 
ing  The  instant  he  entered    every   soul    in   the 

house  was  up,  and  such  hearty  and  enthusiastic  cheers 
I  never  before  heard.  These  were  continued  and  re- 
iterated, until  he  signified  a  wish  that  they  should  cease, 
and  certainly  could  have  left  no  doubt  in  his  mind  about 
his  popularity  with  his  people,  if  he  had  till  then  been 
uncertain  of  it I  shall  certainly  sleep  better  to- 
night after  the  proof  I  have  just  had  that  a  sovereign 
may  make  himself  beloved. 

Wednesday,  x^th.  I  received  a  note  from  the  Minister 
of  State  on  Monday,  desiring  me  to  pay  my  respects 
to  the  King3  at  his  palace  in  Nymphenburg,  and  ap- 
23ointing  this  morning  at  ten  for  me  to  present  myself. 

i  The  diploma  of  this  Academy  was  3  Interlined   at  this  passage  are  these 

found  among  Mr.  Cogswell's  papers,  as  words  :  "  I  wish  you  not  to  say  anything 

well   as   a   copy   of  the   Latin   letter  in  of  my  visit   to   the    King.     The  motive 

which   he  expressed   his  thanks  for  the  of   mentioning   these    things   is   always 

honor  done  him.  misunderstood." 

2  Maximilian  I.  (Joseph). 


Age  33] •  INTERVIEW   WITH  THE   KING.  I  13 

....  As  I  was  a  simple  republican  his  Majesty  dis- 
pensed with  the  etiquette  of  a  court  dress,  and  there- 
fore I  made  my  appearance  at  the  hour  appointed,  in 
a  plain  black,  but  rather  dandy-like  sort  of  a  coat,  which 
came  from  the  hands  of  Stolz  in  Bond  St.,  on  occasion 
of  the  death  of  the  Queen.  The  chamberlain  received 
me  and  announced  me  to  the  King,  who  signified  his 
pleasure  that  I  should  immediately  be  presented  to  him. 
I  knew,  beforehand,  exactly  what  an  honest,  sans  cere- 
monie  sort  of  a  dignity  he  was,  and  therefore  felt  per- 
fectly at  ease  in  approaching  him  ;  and  if  I  had  not,  he 
would  have  put  me  so  at  once,  as  I  had  not  been  with 
him  two  minutes  before  he  clapped  me  on  the  shoulder 
as  familiarly  as  I  should  Ticknor.  Our  conversation 
lasted  too  long  to  report,  though  I  know  it  would  in- 
terest you. 

He  was  frank  and  acute  in  his  remarks,  and  very 
minute  and  curious  in  his  inquiries,  and  left  an  impres- 
sion upon  me  of  as  much  liberality  in  politics,  and  re- 
ligion as  I  want  to  see  in  any  man,  sovereign  or  subject. 
The  huzza  of  the  populace  in  the  theatre  last  evening 
came  into  my  mind,  as  I  was  talking  with  him,  and  I 
could  not  let  slip  the  opportunity  for  a  compliment. 
"  I  am  a  republican,"  said  I.  "  and  used  to  see  the  peo- 
ple applaud  their  favorites,  but  then  they  are  favorites 
of  their  own  choosing,  and  it  is  natural  that  they  should 
be  satisfied  with  them  ;  but  last  night  I  had  a  new 
pleasure,  it  was  that  of  seeing  a  Sovereign  who  had 
been  placed  over  a  people  by  the  fundamental  laws  of 
the  kingdom,  received  by  his  subjects  with  accclama- 
tions  as  loud  as  freemen  ever  raised."  "  It  was  a  pleasure 
'5 


114  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1819. 

to  me  also,"  replied  his  Majesty,  "  I  try  to  make  my 
people  happy,  and  it  gratifies  me  greatly  to  see  that 
they  are  sensible  of  it."  Before  I  took  leave  of  him, 
he  inquired  of  me  what  I  thought  of  the  state  of  Ba- 
varia in  general,  and  particularly  how  I  found  the  es- 
tablishments for  the  promotion  of  science  in  Munich  ; 
and  then  had  the  politeness  to  say  to  me,  that,  whenever 
I  saw  anything  anywhere  in  his  dominions,  which  I 
thought  might  be  of  use  in  my  own  country  I  had  only 
to  ask,  and  models  should  immediately  be  made  for  me, 
and  the  same  as  to  plants  in  the  botanical  gardens,  if 
there  were  any  very  rare  and  to  be  found  nowhere  else, 

I   should  have  seeds  of  them  or  slips The  rest 

of  the  morning  I  spent  at  Nymphenburg,  in  looking  at 
the  gardens,  grounds,  and  menagerie,  and  returned  to 
town  at  four,  to  dine  with  the  French  minister,  Count 
de  la  Garde,  where  I  found  an  exceeding  pleasant  party 
of  ten,  in  whose  company  I  finished  the  day  and  even- 
ing  

Thursday  \A,th Took  my  cup  of  tea  at  night 

with  a  very  intelligent  man  by  the  name  of  de  Lerchen- 
feld,  who  is  minister  of  finance,  and  (which  is  more 
important  for  the  pleasure  of  my  evening)  has  an  ex- 
ceeding pretty,  amiable,  sensible  wife To  round 

off  the  day  they  carried  me  to  a  ball  about  ten,  from 
which  I  have  just  returned,  feeling  much  more  inclined 
to  sleep  than  to  sit  to  my  writing  table. 

Lausanne,  October  28.  We  have  done  wonders  to-day 
to  come  from   Concise  to  this  place,  beside  making  a 


Age  33.]  THE   LAKE  OE  GENE  VA.  I  I  5 

long  visit  at  Pestalozzi's  at  Yverdun.  A  painful  visit  it 
was  to  me,  to  see  this  good  old  man  and  real  philanthro- 
pist going  broken-hearted  to  his  grave,  for  broken- 
hearted he  must  be,  in  contemplating  the  ruined  state 
of  the  institution  which  he  has  been  laboring  his  whole 

life  to  establish My  regrets,  however,  are   more 

for  himself  than  for  the  public,  for  I  do  not  believe  his 
system  carried  to  the  extent  he  does,  is  the  true  method 
of  storing  the  mind  with  knowledge.  It  would  exclude 
memory  altogether  as  a  medium  of  instructing,  and 
make  use  of  reason  alone,  which  is  absurd.  Reason 
must  be  furnished  with  ideas  for  the  materials  of  its 
ratiocinations,  and  many  of  these   must  be   laid   up  in 

and  recalled  by  the  memory This  is  the  misery 

of  all  systems,  that  the  makers  of  them  are  never  satis- 
fied with  putting  them  in  practice  as  far  as  they  are 
true,  merely,  but  have  a  foolish  vanity  of  giving  them 
universal  applicability. 

But,  to  come  over  from  the  lake  of  Neuchatel  to  that 
of  Geneva.  This  loveliest  of  all  waters  has  not  lost 
a  bit  of  its  enchantment  since  I  left  it  a  year  since, 
never  did  it  wear  a  finer  appearance  than  when  we  first 
discovered  it  to-day  from    the  heights  over  which   we 

have  just  passed The  day  loves  to  linger  around 

all  sweet  spots  I  believe,  but  I  never  saw  it  linger  any- 
where as  it  does  upon  this  lake.  Often  when  I  have 
thought  it  had  taken  its  last  parting  look,  I  have  caught 
it  peeping  down  from  Mont  Blanc  and  the  other  moun- 
tain tops  of  Savoy.  One  of  these  parting  scenes  was 
playing  just  as  I  got  the  first  glimpse  of  the  lake  to- 
night, and  that  I  suppose  gave  it  its  appearance  of  un- 
usual beauty. 


I  1 6  JOSEI'H  GREEN  COGS  WELL.  [1819. 

Rollk,  29/// I  had  a  great  many  friends  to  call 

on  [in  Lausanne]  beside  having  no  small  quantity  of 
minerals  to  purchase  ;  and,  to  accomplish  all  my  objects, 
I  was  obliged  to  leave  my  dinner  for  another  day. 
Everybody  seems  very  anxious  about  the  late  progress 
of  despotism  in  Germany  in  annihilating  the  liberty 
of  the  press,  and  no  one  more  so  than  General  La 
Harpe,  the  former  Governor  of  the  Emperor  Alexan- 
der, and  the  director  of  his  education.  I  dared  not 
tell  him  that  his  imperial  pupil  is  regarded  as  the  father 
of  the  monster,  because  I  know  he  considers  him  as 
the  real  friend  of  liberty,  and  I  believe  nothing  in  the 
world  would  distress  him,  La  Harpe,  so  much,  as  even 
to  suspect  the  Emperor  of  hypocrisy. 

Pont  d'Ain,  November  5 I  have  always  ob- 
served the  lovers  of  natural  history  never  fail  to  show 
peculiar  good-will  toward  each  other.  Making  known 
my  taste  for  it  has  got  me  out  of  difficulty  more  than 
once,  and  I  now  make  use  of  it  as  a  sort  of  free  ma- 
sonry. I  remember  well  in  Chiavenna,  in  the  Valtel- 
line,  that  I  was  in  danger  of  being  stopt,  I  know  not 
how  long,  on  account  of  some  informality  in  my  pass- 
port. Arraigned  before  the  Commissary  of  Police  I 
was  in  great  straits  what  course  to  take,  until  I  saw 
a  few  bits  of  stone  upon  his  table,  which  I  ventured  to 
ask  about,  and  this  brought  on  a  conversation  that  dis- 
covered our  mineralogical  sympathies,  and  thereby  I 
got  out  of  his  hands  in  a  very  short  time. 

Tours  en   Touraine,  November  24,    1819 In 

passing  Moulins  the  story  of  Maria  came  to  mind,  and 


Age  33]  MOULINS.  1 1 7 

as  a  sentimental  traveller  I  could  not  but  consecrate  a 
sigh  to  her  memory.  Moulins,  alas!  is  now  associated 
with  a  more  mournful  recollection  than  an  imaginary 
tale  of  sorrow  ;  it  is  the  resting-place  of  poor  Thacher,1 
and  I  could  not  press  on  past  it  as  if  it  had  been  a 
common  spot.  There  was  nothing  in  the  place  to  in- 
terest me,  but  that  his  grave  was  made  there.  That 
alone  was  enough  to  induce  me  to  make  a  solemn  and 
thoughtful  pause  in  it.  I  am  here  for  a  short  time, 
and  then  go  to  Paris  for  the  winter,  leaving  Thorndike 
to  his  books  and  his  masters  at  Tours. 

1  Rev.  S.  C.  Thacher  of  Boston,  pas-  of  his  sermons  was  published  in  1824, 
tor  and  friend  of  Mrs.  Prescott,  who  died  with  a  memoir  by  Rev.  F,  W.  P.  Green- 
at  Moulins,  January  2,  iSjS.     A  volume    wood. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Paris.  —  Edinburgh.  —  Excursions  in   England    and  Scotland.  —  Re- 
turns to  America,  October,  1820. 

HPOURS,  November  21,  1 8 19.*  ...  .  You  appear 
-*-  to  entertain  expectations  that  I  shall  finally  con- 
sent to  fix  myself  in  Cambridge,  and  this  can  never  be. 
Here,  by  the  side  of  a  good  fire,  with  a  nice  carpet  on 
the  floor  and  my  portion  of  coffee  by  my  side,  at  six 
in  the  morning,  in  the  placidest  state  of  mind  possible, 
in  the  good  little  city  of  Tours,  where  Thorndike 
studies  and  does  everything  else  to  my  perfect  satisfac- 
tion, and  where,  in  a  word,  I  am  happier  than  I  have 
been  for  more  than  six  years  before,  I  declare  to  you, 
with  all  due  solemnity,  that  I  cannot  wear  a  professor's 
gown  at  Cambridge.  I  hope  to  see  one  institution  in 
our  country  in  which  no  person  shall  bear  that  title 
who  is  not  truly  a  scholar,  a  classical  one,  I  mean,  and, 
as  I  am  not  that  myself,  I  will  not  be  such  a  recreant 
as  to  aid  in  keeping  up  the  hungering,  starving  condi- 
tion of  the  minds  of  our  youth,  for  the  sake  of  my 
daily  bread.  I  am  more  sensible  than  ever  upon  this 
point.  The  character  I  gave  last  winter  of  the  state  of 
education  among  us,  is  commendation  compared  with 
that  I  should  now  give,  and  it  is  by  the  instrumentality 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  33-1  HARVARD    COLLEGE.  119 

of  Cambridge  alone,  that  I  hope  for  a  reformation.1  In 
fact  my  scruples  would  be  much  less  strong  about  ac- 
cepting the  same  place  in  any  other  of  our  seminaries, 
....  Now,  the  obstacles  which  oppose  my  being  made 
professor  do  not  apply  with  so  much  force  to  my  being 
made  librarian,  and  I  do  not  say  that  I  would  not  ac- 
cept that  office  if  I  could  have  it.  My  deficiencies 
there  would  be  somewhat  counterbalanced,  by  the  ad- 
vantage of  having  one  who  knows  so  much,  practically, 
of  the  book-selling  trade  in  Europe,  and  who  could  so 
easily  enter  into  correspondences  abroad,  and  if  I  could 
see  that  I  was  useful  I  should  be  contented  and  happy. 
I  cannot  go  to  my  grave  in  peace  while  I  think  I  have 
lived  in  vain  in  the  world,  and  when  I  get  back  to 
America,  I  am  resolved  to  embrace  that  course  of  life 
which  promises  me  the  fairest  opportunity  of  doing 
good.  And  here  I  must  beg  you  to  let  the  subject  rest, 
and  say  nothing  more  of  Cambridge  till  we  meet 

Paris,  December  10,  [1819].*  ....  The  festivities 
you  promise  me  on  my  arrival  would  be  very  gratify- 
ing to  my  vanity,  but  I  assure  you,  I  should  be  more 
induced  to  hasten  my  return  if  I  could  come  like  a 
thief  in  the  night.  My  absence  from  home  has  been 
distinguished  by  no  victories,  and  my  return  deserves 
no  triumph.  Let  the. laurels  rest  on  the  brows  of  those 
who  have  won  them.     Ah,  my  dear  friend,  you  wonder 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  Mr.  Ticknor  had  now  entered  on  his  and  to  the  literary  labors  which,  among 

duties  as  Professor  of  Modern  Languages  other   results    produced    his   History  of 

and  Belles  Lettres  at  Harvard  College,  Spanish  Literature. 
and  was  devoting  himself  to  those  duties 


120  yOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['*")• 

at  the  depression  I  sometimes  feel,  and  how  can  you 
wonder  when  you  consider  that  I  have  wasted  ten  years 
of  my  life  in  idleness,  or  in  desultory  and  unprofitable 
labors,  and  that  I  am  either  obliged  to  go  on  in  the 
same  way  for  the  future,  or  renounce  the  affections  and 
friendships. of  my  youth.  But  this  is  an  ugly  subject, 
and  away  with  it. 

Paris,  December  19,  [18 19].*  ....  I  am  continually 
in  a  hurry  here  and  still  bring  very  little  to  pass.  As 
soon  as  I  get  my  breakfast  in  the  morning,  I  go  to  the 
Jardin  des  Plantes,  which  is  a  journey  from  where  I 
live  (Boulevard  des  Italiens),  and  I  never  get  back  till 
the  hour  to  dress  for  dinner,  and  I  need  not  tell  you 
how  useless  it  is  to  think  of  evening  study. 

Paris,  December  31,  [1819].*.  .  .  .  How  can  I  better 
pay  you  for  the  kind  expressions  of  regard  you  collect 
for  me  from  my  friends  at  home,  than  by  telling  you  of 
such  as  I  hear  from  those  you  left  in  Europe.  Yester- 
day morning  I  spent  a  very  pleasant  hour  with  Madame 
de  Broglie  '  and  had  the  pleasure  to  hear  her  speak  of 
you  in  a  manner  that  evinced  a  very  strong  and  sincere 
affection  for  you.  She  was  alone,  and  her  conversation 
gave  me  a  better  opportunity  of  judging  of  her  mind, 
than  I  had  ever  before  had,  which,  I  confess  to  you,  I 
now  find  far  above  the  estimate  I  at  first  formed  of 
it We   had  the  whole  cote  gauche  at  Constant's 

*  To  George  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  The  Duchesse  de  Broglie,  only  daughter  of  Mad.  de  Stael,  an  admirable  and 
distinguished  woman. 


Age  33]  DEPARTURE  FROM  PARIS.  12  1 

this  evening Before  going  to  Constant's  I  went 

to  see  Talma  play  Octave  in  "  Cinna,"  in  several  scenes 
of  which  he  was  prodigiously  great,  especially  in  the 
dialogue  with  Cinna,  after  the  conspiracy  was  dis- 
covered. I  can  conceive  of  nothing  beyond  him  in 
this  act 

Paris,  April  29,  1820.*  My  dear  Sister,  —  I  am  just 
now  in  the  hurry  of  preparation  for  my  departure  from 
Paris,  and,  as  it  is  probably  to  be  my  last  farewell  to 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  it  requires  no  little  time  to  be 
ready  to  pronounce  it.  I  know  not  how  others  feel 
at  such  times,  but  I  cannot  deny  that  it  makes  me  sad. 
During  my  residence  and  travels  here,  I  have  found 
too  many  friends,  and  received  too  many  kind  attentions 
to  bid  adieu  and  forget  forever.  I  would  not  imply  that 
a  strange  land  has  become  a  home  to  me,  or  that  I 
would  willingly  remain  longer  in  it,  but  I  could  wish 
to  feel  less  attached  to  it,  that  I  might  turn  my  back 
upon  it  with  less  regrets.  Our  departure  from  Paris 
is  fixed  for  May  2d,  and  our  course  is  first  to  England. 
Should  I  find  Mr.  Thorndike's  son,  Oliver,  who  has 
been  studying  for  several  years  in  Scotland,  ready  to 
go  home,  we  shall  all  embark  in  the  same  ship  for  New 
York ;  but  if  he  is  not,  Augustus  will  go  then,  and  I 
shall  remain  till  August  for  Oliver.  In  any  case,  how- 
ever, I  shall  keep  my  next  birthday  with  you,  my  dear 
sister,  should  God  please  to  spare  my  life  till  then.  My 
health  has  been  constantly  improving  since  the  return 
of  warm  weather,  and  particularly  since    the  multipli- 

•  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich. 
16 


122  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1820. 

city  of  my  affairs  has  compelled  me  to  take  a  great  deal 
of  exercise,  and  I  now  flatter  myself  that  the  sight  of 
home  will  not  only  restore  joy  to  my  heart,  but  strength 

and  vigor  to  my  frame This  great  city  is  called 

the  gayest  in  the  world,  but   I  am  always  sadder  here 

than  anywhere  else,  and  why  it  is  I  know  not I 

remember  when  I  went  to  England  before  that  the  first 
glimpse  I  caught  of  its  beautiful  verdure  made  me 
carol  like  a  bird  at  the  opening  of  the  buds  in  spring, 
and  I  promise  myself  the  same  restoring  and  cheering 

influence  from  it  now 

My  kind  remembrances  as  usual  to  all  our  friends 
in  Ipswich.  Do  not  forget  me  or  forget  how  truly 
and  tenderly  you  are  loved  by  your  ever  affectionate 
brother  J. 

Liverpool,  May  30,  1820.*.  ...  I  am  daily  more  and 
more  convinced,  that  we  can  effect  just  as  much  and 
just  as  little  as  we  believe  ourselves  capable  of.  ...  . 
This  morning  when  I  found  Augustus  would  certainly 
sail  the  day  after  to-morrow,  I  saw  the  necessity  of 
exerting  my  energies,  and  I  have  already  done  more 
since  7  a.  m.  than  I  have  done  for  five  months  past.  I 
know  you'  will  condemn  me  for  not  returning  with 
Augustus,  and,  perhaps,  judge  me  so  hardly  as  to  be- 
lieve I  have  no  wish  to  return,  but  if  you  do,  it  will 
be  an  unjust  judgment.  I  stay  behind  only  because 
I  am  persuaded  I  ought  to  do  it 

Edinburgh,  July  18,  1820.!.  .  .  .  After  mine  of  June 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  33-]  RAMBLES  IN  ENGLAND.  123 

15th,  etc.,  nothing  material  occurred  while  I  remained  in 
Edinburgh,  but  I  thought  to  have  written  you  previous 
to  my  departure  by  way  of  summary  of  my  proceed- 
ings, and  this  I  should  have  done,  if  I  had  not  been 
prevented  by  a  new  sort  of  dissipation.  Just  at  that 
time  there  happened  to  be  a  few  strangers  here,  and  it 
became  fashionable  to  entertain  them  with  a  petit  sou- 
per.  Jeffrey,  your  friend  Murray,  Pillans,  Brewster, 
etc.,  each  in  turn  kept  us  up  till  past  2  in  the  morning, 
drinking  all  sorts  of  diabolical  mixtures,  pleasantly 
enough,  I  confess,  but  ruinous  to  my  health,  and  com- 
pletely subversive  of  all  strength  and  spirit  for  labor 
the  next  day. 

On  Monday  the  19th  of  June  I  set  out  for  England, 
and  out  of  regard  to  the  Kelso  coach,  from  having  been 
in  it  with  you,  I  took  a  place  in  that  to  Newcastle  ;  the 
next  day  to  Harrogate,  thence  to  Leeds  and  Sheffield 
and  next  into  Derbyshire,  where  I  spent  a  week  in  ex- 
ploring caverns,  climbing  up  mountains,  visiting  castles 
and  ruins,  in  company  with  a  young  lawyer  from  Derby, 
who  finally  carried  me  home  with  him  to  a  country  seat 
he  has  near  Derby,  and  came  well  nigh  being  rewarded 
for  his  kindness  to  me,  by  seeing  me  in  love  with  a 
sweet  wife  he  had  married  about  six  months  since. 
From  Derby  I  turned  north  again,  visited  Newstead 
Abbey,  which  is  in  a  fair  way  of  being  spoilt,  by  the 
repairs  its  present  possessor,  Maj.  Wildman,  is  making 
in  and  around  it  ...  .  and   afterward  to  Boston  .... 

from  pure  affection  to  it  on  account  of  its  name 

My  next  stop  was  made  at  Cambridge,  and  that  a  short 
one,  for  I  found    that  Mr.  Coke's  great  sheep  shearing 


124  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['Szo. 

was  at  hand  and,  as  I  was  desirous  of  seeing  him  in 
his  glory,  I  made  haste  to  be  there.  As  soon  as  I  had 
seen  enough  of  this  feast  and  frolic,  I  took  a  fresh  start 
for  Norwich  and  thence  to  Ipswich,  where  I  was  led  by 
the  same  motive  which  carried  me  to  Boston,  and  where 
I  stopt  a  night,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  my  sister,  and 
bought  a  ring,  which  I  shall  give  to  her  on  my  return. 
The  day   following    I    went    up  to    London  ....  but 

finding  a  letter  from  Dr.  L I  turned  right  about 

and  started  for  Scotland  after  a  rest  of  30  hours,  not 
however  by  the  straight  road,  for  I  always  observe 
the  rule  of  Seneca  to  go  "  qua  eundem  est,  non  qua 
itur."  ....  As  I  was  thus  brought  upon  the  borders 
of  Wales,  I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  deviate 
again  as  far  as  Llangollen,  where  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  the  divinities  of  the  spot,  Lady  Eleanor 
Butler,  and  Miss  Ponsonby,  whose  attachment,  you 
know,  quite  outdoes  any  tale  of  romance  ever  im- 
agined. They  are  delightful  women,  and  it  was  no 
small   grievance  to  me  to  have  so  little  time  to  spend 

with   them I   have   less   to  say  for  myself  since 

my  return  here,  not  having  even  dissipation  as  an  occu- 
pation, there  being  no  one  left  in  town  to  be  dissipated 
with,  so  that  I  have  been  pretty  much  at  home,  except 
a  few  odd  hours  spent  with  Mary  Grant,  and  a  few 
more  with  Miss  Edmond.  It  is  a  dangerous  situation, 
you  will  say,  to  be  left  alone  an  hour  or  two  every  morn- 
ing, with  such  an  enchanting  creature  as  Miss  E.,  to 
sit  by  her  and  hear  her  play,  and  sing  the  most  touch- 
ing and  tender  airs,  and,  I  confess,  I  feel  very  quick 
pulsations  sometimes,  but  there  is  no  danger,  we  under- 


Age  33]         FEELINGS   ON  LEAVING  EUROPE.  I  25 

stand  each  other  perfectly  well,  and  are  both  perfectly 
safe. 


Aberdeen,  August  5,  1820*  Well,  dearest  G.,  my 
work  in  Europe  is  done,  and  I  have  now  no  further 
excuse  for  remaining  here.  My  protege,  Oliver,  was 
examined  for  his  medical  degree  yesterday,  and  declared 
fully  entitled  to  the  honor ;  on  Monday  he  receives  his 
diploma,  and  our  first  step,  after  that,  will  be  a  home- 
ward one I  will  not  say  to  what  kindly  influence 

it  is  owing,  but  sure  it  is,  my  heart  is  in  every  respect 
affectioned  as  you  would  wish  it  should  be,  toward  home 
and  the  friends  whom  I  am  to  meet  there.  I  have  had 
some  strange  revolutions  of  feeling  since  I  came  abroad, 
most  of  which  I  hope  were  produced  wholly  by  exter- 
nal circumstances  and  consequently  as  fleeting  as  the 
causes  in  which  they  arose.  Should  you  find  any  traces 
of  them  still  remaining,  when  I  return,  depend  on  it 
they  will  soon  be  obliterated,  by  an  intercourse  with 
those  friends  who  first  gave  my  character  whatever  it 
has  ever  had  of  amiable  and  good.  Till  within  the 
last  two  months  I  have  always  regretted  that  I  came 
to  Europe,  because  I  felt  that  I  had  made  but  a  poor 
exchange,  by  giving  up  my  happiness  for  life  for  the 
acquisition  of  a  little  knowledge,  and  the  gratification 
of  a  vain  curiosity ;  but  since  I  have  found,  that  this 
sacrifice  is  not  to  be  made,  I  have  ceased  to  regret  it, 
believing  now  that  I  have  increased  my  means  of  being 
useful,  without   having  lost  the  power  of  being  happy. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


126  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [ifco. 

....  I  could  not  help  telling  you  that,  in  expecting 
me  home,  you  may  expect  to  find  me  a  better  and  a 
happier  man  than  when  you  parted  from  me,  worthy 
I  trust,  of  your  friendship  and  desirous  above  all  things 

of  preserving  it Once  more,  adieu,  dearest  G. 

God  preserve  you.  Affectionately  C. 


Perth,  August  9,  1820*.  ...   I  am  now  on  my  way 

South  from  a  journey  in  the  Highlands When 

I  lived  at  Belfast,  and  used  occasionally  to  traverse  the 
woods  of  that  neighborhood,  I  thought  there  could  not 
be  a  civilized  country  in  which  man  had  emerged  less 
from  a  state  of  barbarism,  than  the  inhabitants  of  those 
regions  ;  but  I  find  now,  upon  comparing  their  con- 
dition with  that  of  the  Highlanders,  that  they  were 
quite  advanced  in  civilization.  The  wretched  log 
houses,  without  roofs  or  floors,  so  common  there,  are 
palaces,  compared  with  the  mud  hovels,  in  many  parts 
of  this  country,  which  have  neither  doors,  windows  nor 
chimneys,  and,  often,  almost  neither  roofs  nor  walls,  and 
as  destitute  of  any  conveniences  inside,  for  cooking 
and  sleeping,  as  the  caverns  in  the  mountains.  Mrs. 
Hamilton's  "  Cottagers  of  Glenburnie  "  is  a  faithful  pic- 
ture of  their  modes  of  life,  disgusting  as  it  is.  Maccul- 
lock,  who  has  spent  several  summers  in  the  islands, 
says  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  bed  in  the  island  of 
North  Rona,  not  even  of  straw,  —  the  places  in  which 
they  lie.  being  niches  in  the  mud  walls  filled  with  peat 
ashes.     I  have  never  seen  the  like  of  this,  but  I  have, 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  33]  HOME   AGAIN.  1 27 

frequently  a  couch  made  of  heather  upon  heaps  of 
manure  in  a  corner  of  the  hovel ;  and  a  lower  state  of 

domestic  comfort  could  not  well  be  imagined It 

took  a  great  deal  from  the  pleasure  which  the  fine, 
wild,  picturesque  scenery  of  the  Highlands  is  calcu- 
lated to  afford,  to  see  the  miserable  state  of  the  human 
beings  who  dwell  among  them. 


London,  August  29,  1820.*  A  short  letter,  dearest 
G.  will  tell  you  all  I  have  to  say,  as  I  hope  to  see  you 
very  nearly  as  soon  as  you  get  it.  I  am  to  embark  for 
New  York  in  the  "  Cincinnatus,"  which  is  to  sail  from 
Gravesend,  September  4.  .  .  I  am  in  fine  health  and 
spirits,  and  when  I  once  more  reach  the  land,  when  I 
can  look  upon  you  and  a  few  other  precious  ones,  I  shall 
have  no  earthly  wish  ungratified.  Adieu,  dearest  G.  for 
a  short  time.  Ever  yours,  C. 

October  29,  1820.!  My  dear  Sister,  I  am  safe  in  Bos- 
ton, and  hope  to  see  you  to-morrow  or  the  next  day 
morning.  Yours  affectionately,  J. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Uncertain  Plans.  —  Journey  to  Washington.  —  Becomes  Librarian 
and  Professor  of  Mineralogy  and  Chemistry  at  Harvard  College. 
—  Visit  to  Portland.  — Journey  to  Niagara. —  Project  for  a  School. 

Ipswich,  November  5,  1820.*  ....  Various  voca- 
tions, both  in  the  way  of  friends  and  business,  kept  me  in 
Boston  all  the  week,  after  my  return  there  from  Ipswich 
on  Tuesday  morning,  and  I  have  now  come  here  once 
more,  to  worship  God  where  I  first  learned  to  lisp  his 
praises  ;  and  must  return  again  early  to-morrow.  I  pray 
you  all  not  to  entertain  one  hard  thought  of  me,  even 
should  I  move  Southward  before  I  do  East,  as  it  is  most 
probable  I  shall  be  obliged  to  do,  but  certainly  not  un- 
less I  am  obliged. 

Philadelphia,  December  28,  1820.!  ....  I  have  had 
several  interviews  with  Walsh,1  and  am  much  disposed 
to  like  him.  His  notions  in  regard  to  education  and 
learning  are  very  bad  and  perverse,  tending  completely 
to  support  and  encourage  the  general  prejudices  of  this 
country,  against  all  kinds  of  knowledge,  but  such  as  may 
be  turned  to  account  in  public  life As  to  my 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  Robert  Walsh,  editor  of  the  (Phila-  United  States  Consul  in  Paris,  where  he 
delphia)  National  Gazette,  and  other  pe-  died  in  1859.  He  was  a  man  of  remark- 
riodicals,  and  afterwards,  for  many  years,    able  literary  acquirements. 


Age  34]  WASHINGTON.  I  29 

Rocky  Mountain  expedition,  of  which  he  had  heard  from 
Major  Long,  now  here,  there  are  no  terms  of  abuse 
which  he  does  not  heap  on  me  for  thinking  of  it.  The 
Major,  by  the  way,  informs  me  that  a  place  has  always 
been  reserved  for  me,  and  that  he  is  to  start  again  in 
the  spring,  so  that  I  may  possibly  return  to  Boston  by 
way  of  the  Columbia  River  and  Cape  Horn. 

I  have  been  somewhat  more  adventurous  in  Philadel- 
phia than  I  was  in  Boston,  having  dined  out  almost 
every  day  since  I   came  here,  and  joined  some  rout  or 

tea  party  in  the  evening I  am  engaged,  for  to-day, 

at  a  dinner  party  at  General  Cadwallader's,  and  to  a 
meeting  of  philosophers,  at  John  Vaughan's,  in  the  even- 
ing, and  a  windup  with  some  ladies  at  Mrs.  Harrison's ; 
so,  you  see,  it  is  with  me  the  same  as  ever,  starving  or 
stark  mad. 

Washington,  January  24,  1821.*  ....  Since  mine 
from  Philadelphia  I  have  finished  my  visit  there,  and  a 
pleasant  one  it  was  ;  made  another  of  twelve  days  at  Bal- 
timore, where  I  almost  got  in  love  myself,  but  thought  it 
safe  to  say  nothing  of  it,  as  the  lady  was  married,  and 
have  now  been  here  a  week  and  more.  When  I  first 
entered  this  Columbian  metropolis  I  thought  it  the  most 
perfect  abomination  of  desolation  I  ever  saw ;  but  my 
eyes  are  already  accustomed  to  its  beggarly,  straggling 
appearance,  and  my  capacity  of  enjoying  its  moral  and 
intellectual  pleasures  no  longer  disturbed  by  its  physical 
deformities.  I  do  not  find  many  men  of  great  calibre 
here  —  those  most  to  my  taste  are,  Calhoun,  Lowndes, 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
17 


130  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  Inl- 

and Clay.  I  do  not  intend  to  place  those  three  on  an 
equality.  Calhoun  is  the  greatest  man,  every  point  of 
greatness  being  taken  into  consideration,  and  Clay  the 
richest  in  the  mere  gifts  of  nature.  You  will  understand 
me  now  to  be  talking  only  of  the  novi  homines,  I  say 
nothing  of  Mr.  King  and  men  of  his  times.  I  have  had 
an  audience  of  the  President  and  am  to  dine  with  him 
on  Friday,  not  very  much  to  my  liking  though,  for  I  hear 

his  dinners  are  as  ordinary  as  he  is Pinckncy  of 

Baltimore  I  have  not  heard  in  the  Senate,  but  I  heard 
him  in  the  Court  there,  and  was  greatly  astonished  by 
the  richness  of  his  declamation ;  he  uses  the  best  lan- 
guage, and  is  in  every  way  more  of  an  orator  than  any 

speaker  of  his  cast  I  ever  heard  in  America I 

dine  out  every  day  and  mix  as  much  as  I  can  with  the 
radicals  ;  they  are  the  men  whose  characters  it  is  most 
important  to  study. 

There  is  no  exploring  expedition  to  be  sent  out  this 
year,  as  retrenchment  is  now  the  order  of  the  day,  con- 
sequently I  shall  not  see  the  Rocky  Mountains  this 
year. 

Ipswich,  March  8,  182 1.*  ....  Since  my  return  I 
have  been  beset  in  various  ways,  sometimes  by  Mr. 
Thomdike,  and  sometimes  by  the  President  of  Harvard 
College,  and  as  yet  I  am  undecided  what  course  to  take. 
They  offer  me  at  Cambridge  a  combination  of  offices 
and  honors,  —  for  example,  the  charge  of  the  Library 
at  $660,  a  new  professorship  of  Mineralogy,  with  as 
much   as   I  can  get  for  my  services,  $500  secured,  and 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  34]  BOSTON.  131 

Gorham's  chemical  chair  with  $800  or  thereabouts 

Probably  I  shall  accept  these  several  appointments ; 
that  of  librarian  I  certainly  shall  for  a  time, — long 
enough,  I  mean,  to  put  the  library  into  better  order 
than  it  now  is  in.1  .... 

I  had  a  very  interesting  journey  to  the  South  .... 
and  came  back  more  satisfied  than  ever  with  our  part 
of  the  country.  Boston  is  not  everything  I  wish  it  to 
be,  but  it  is  really  the  best  place  among  the  great  places 
in  our  land,  and  if  they  would  but  learn  a  little  modesty 
there,  and  not  praise  themselves  quite  so  highly,  I 
would  like  them  still  better. 


Ipswich,  June  2,  182 1.*  ...  .  My  sister  and  myself 
had  a  very  prosperous  return  2  as  far  as  Portsmouth  to- 
gether, where  she  left  me,  to  pursue  the  remainder  of 
her  way  in  the  mail  coach.  I  stopt  to  spend  a  few 
hours  with  Haven,3  and  went  to  Exeter  toward  evening 
on  Thursday.  There  I  found  all  well,  Mr.  Gilman  in 
particular,  who  seems  to  me  better  than  before  I  went 
to  Europe.  My  visit  to  them  was  but  short,  which  I 
told  them  to  charge  to  your  account  in  Portland,  you 

having  kept  me  more  than  your  share I  shall 

be  constantly  contrasting  the  loneliness  of  my  own  cell 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1    He   did  accept   the   three   appoint-  tivated  and  earnest  man  of  great  value 

ments.  and   in   the    Harvard   Catalogue  to   the   society   and    institutions   of   his 

they  all  date  from  1819.  native   place,   who   died   in   1S26,    men- 

-  From  a  visit  to  Portland.  tioned  already  p.  id. 

3  N.  A-  Haven  of  Portsmouth,  a  cul- 


132  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1821- 

at  Cambridge,  with  the  cheerfulness  and  happiness  you 
spread  around  me  in  Portland.1  .... 

Stamford,  Upper  Canada,  July  23,  [1821].*  You 
will  not  think  hard  of  me,  I  am  sure,  my  dear  sister, 
for  omitting  to  write  you,  according  to  promise,  that  I 
was  resolved  on  making  the  talked  of  journey  to  Ni- 
agara, when  I  tell  you  that  I  never  settled  the  resolution 
until  the  night  before  my  departure.  At  the  time  Mr. 
Thorndike  and  party  left  Boston  I  was  too  much  occu- 
pied to  go  with  them,  and  although  I  promised  to  join 
them,  if  possible,  at  Utica  or  near  it,  I  hardly  thought 
I  should  be  ready  to  leave  Cambridge  in  season  to  over- 
take them.  However,  by  doubling  my  diligence,  I  ac- 
complished all  that  was  requisite  to  be  done,  got  the 
library  in  order  for  examination,  gave  the  requisite 
number  of  lectures  to  the  Senior  Class,  and  set  out  in 

pursuit  of  them,  Friday  the  13th I  did  not  come 

up  with   them  before  I    reached    Geneseo They 

were  stopping  at  this  place  to  visit  Mr.  Wadsworth,  a 
gentleman  who  has  a  fine  estate  in  that  country,  and 
a  charming  family,  with  whom  we  spent  a  day  most 
pleasantly From  thence  we  continued  our  jour- 
ney ....  to  the  falls I  have  seen  this  sublime 

view  from  every  possible  point It  is  one  of  the 

very  few  far  famed  wonders  and  curiosities  of  nature 

*  To  Mrs.  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  Mr.  Daveis  was  already  a  success-  Hague,  to  represent  the  interests  of  our 
ful  lawyer,  in  high  standing  at  Portland.  Government  on  the  question  of  the  North- 
He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  the  eastern  Boundary  of  Maine,  when  that 
State  Senate,  and  was  sent,  as  confiden-  was  submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  the 
tial  agent  of  the  United  States,  to  the  King  of  the  Netherlands. 


Age  35-]        LIBRARIAN  OF  HARVARD    COLLEGE.         I  33 

which  has  not  disappointed  me,  and  which  I  think  fully 

deserving  of  the  attention  it  has  commanded As 

I  look  on  it  this  moment  it  presents  an  appearance  both 
beautiful  and  sublime,  the  clouds  are  moving  low,  and 
dark  with  the  rain  which  is  pouring  from  them,  and 
they  are  so  completely  met  by  the  clouds  of  spray  from 
below,  that  they  appear  like  one  common  mass. 

Cambridge,  March  3,  1822.*  .  .  .  .  Since  the  vacation 
I  have  been  obliged  to  labor  pretty  hard,  as  I  was  not 
able  to  effect  much  while  the  students  were  absent,  and 
I  am  anxious  to  finish  my  work  in  the  library,  being 
resolved  to  give  it  up.  as  soon  as  I  shall  have  completed 
the  arrangement,  unless  something  should  happen  to 
give  me  a  -situation  of  more  value  here  in  connection 
with  it.  The  Professorship  of  Mineralogy  is  merely 
a  nominal  one,  there  being  no  fund  for  its  support. 


G.  TICKNOR   TO    S.  A.  ELIOT. 

April  I,   1822. 

Cogswell  is  doing  much  good  in  the  library,  reform- 
ing it  utterly,  and  will,  I  am  j:>ersuaded,  when  he  has 
finished  its  systematic  catalogue,  and  shown  its  gross 
deficiencies,  persuade  people  to  do  something  serious 
towards  filling  it  up. 

October  29,  1822. 

The  library  is  now  in  fine  order.  It  is  arranged  on 
the  same  plan  with  that  at  Gottingen,  though,  for  want 

*  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich. 


134  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1822. 

of  books,  the  subdivisions  are  much  fewer  at  present, 
and  the  Catalogues  are  made  out  in  the  same  way,  so 
that  all  possible  future  additions  will  require  no  altera- 
tion in  any  part  of  the  system.  Cogswell,  however,  is 
in  a  state  of  mortal  discontent.  He  is  weary  of  the 
imperfect  system  of  education  at  College,  and  bitterly 
vexed  with  the  want  of  liberal  views  in  the  Corporation, 
as  to  the  principles  on  which  the  Library  shall  be 
managed  and  increased.  If  he  would  but  wait  a  while, 
I  think  all  things  would  turn  out  right;  but  perhaps,  he 
lacks  patience  and  constancy  for  this.  At  least,  he  now 
protests,  if  things  are  not  speedily  reformed,  he  shall 
quit  the  College  entirely. 


Mr.  Cogswell  continues  :  — 

Cambridge,  January  19,  1823.*  .  .  .  .  I  would  not 
go  through,  in  the  way  of  incessant  application  and  de- 
nial of  intercourse  with  my  friends,  and  social  enjoy- 
ment in  general,  what  I  have  gone  through  since  I  re- 
turned from  Europe,  not  for  the  value  of  the  College 
library.  One  of  the  most  pleasing  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  occupation  upon  which  I  shall  enter 
next  autumn,1  is,  that  I  shall  be  with  you,  and  be  able  to 
contribute  more  to  your  happiness,  and  live  more  for 
your  comfort,  than  I  have  ever  yet  been  able  to  do. 


*  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich. 


1  This  is  the  first  mention  in  Mr.  Cogswell's  letters  of  the  plan  for  the  Round  Hill 
School. 


Age  36]  PROJECT  FOR   A    SCHOOL.  1 35 

G.   TICKNOR   TO    S.   A.    ELIOT. 

February  1,  1823. 

Tancroft  and  Cogswell  have  a  project  for  establishing 
a  school  in  the  country,  to  teach  more  thorotighly  than 
has  ever  yet  been  taught  among  us.  This  purpose 
arises  mainly  from  their  discontent  at  their  situation  in 
Cambridge.  Cogswell  has  put  the  library  in  perfect 
order,  and  is  now  finishing  his  catalogue  of  it,  but  the 
corporation  neither  comprehend  what  he  has  done,  nor 
respect  him  enough  for  his  great  disinterested  labor. 
Bancroft  is  making  great  exertions  to  teach  Greek  thor- 
oughly, and  succeeds ;  but  is  thwarted  in  every  move- 
ment by  the  President.  I  am  very  desirous  they  should 
stay,  and  by  patient  continuance  carry  through  all  their 
projects,  as  they  will  in  time  ;  but  they  declare  they  will 
not,  whether  they  establish  their  school  or  give  it  up. 


Mr.  Cogswell  continues  :  — 

Cambridge,  June  9,  1823.*  My  dear  Sister, — My  jour- 
ney into  the  country  extended  rather  farther  than  I 
expected  when  I  left  Ipswich.  On  looking  around 
Worcester,  for  a  place  to  fix  our  projected  school,  Mr. 
Bancroft  and  myself  did  not  find  one  exactly  to  our 
minds,  and  concluded  to  go  as  far  as  Northampton,  and 
examine  the  neighborhood  there.  Our  views  were 
much  better  answered  here.  About  half  a  mile  from  the 
village  of  Northampton,  on  the  brow  of  a  beautiful  hill, 
overlooking  the  Connecticut,  and  the  rich  plain  through 

*  To  Miss  E.  Cogswell,  Ipswich. 


136  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1823. 

which  it  flows,  and  the  fine  picturesque  hills  which  form 
its  banks,  we  found  two  houses  to  be  let  for  a  very  small 
rent,  and,  as  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the 
situation  were  exactly  to  our  minds,  we  concluded,  at 
once  to  begin  our  experiment  there.  Accordingly  we 
have  engaged  the  houses  from  September,  and  expect  to 
enter  upon  our  new  duties  the  first  of  October.  I  de- 
pend upon  your  accompanying  us,  and  assure  you  that 
if  you  should  not  find  yourself  contented  and  happy 
there,  I  will  say  not  a  word  against  your  returning  to 
Ipswich,  after  you  have  fairly  tried  the  experiment.  You 
will  find  it  necessary,  no  doubt,  to  begin  immediately  to 

prepare  for  leaving  Ipswich Let  me  hear  from 

you  soon,  and  say,  I  pray  you,  that  you  will  accompany 
me.     Northampton  is  a  delightful  place,  and  the  country 
around  more  beautiful  than  any  you  have  ever  seen.1 
Ever  and  most  sincerely, 

Your  affectionate  brother,  J. 


G.   TICKNOR   TO    S.    A.   ELIOT. 

September  13,  1823. 

Cogswell  and  Bancroft  are  about  to  begin  their  estab- 
lishment at   Northampton,  and    will   begin  under  very 

1    Writing   from   Matlock  Bath,  June  their  sloping  sides.     The   first   thought 

25th,    1820,  to  Mrs.  Prescott, -he  says:  which  comes  into  my  mind  now,  when  - 

"  My  windows  look  out  upon  the  very  ever  I  see  anything  of  this  kind  is,  have 

scenery  I  would  always  like  to  have  be-  we  the  like  at  home  ?  for  I  assure  you 

fore    my   eyes,   a   winding   river   skirted  I  never  lose  sight  of  the  project  I  formed 

with   trees   and   hemmed   in   by   craggy  a  year  or  two   since,   of  setting  myself 

rocks,  overgrown  with  shrubs  and  wild  down   for   life   in   the   first    sequestered 

flowers,  a  range  of  lofty  hills  in  the  back  vale  I  find  to  my  taste,  as  soon  as  I  get 

ground   with   here   and  there  a  solitary  back  to  America, 
cottage  or  a  little  hamlet  scattered  over 


Age  36.]  HAPPY  AUSPICES.  1 37 

happy  auspices.  The  people  in  that  portion  of  the 
country  are  delighted  with  them  ;  their  local  situation  is 
uncommonly  beautiful  and  favorable  —  their  library  will 
consist  of  about  four  thousand  volumes  —  they  will  have 
Hentz  with  them  as  a  French  teacher,  who  is  the  best 
we  have  ever  had,  and  beside  this,  is  well  skilled  in 
Natural  History,  —  and  finally,  they  will  have  their  full 
number  of  scholars  to  begin  with,  picked  from  a  much 
larger  number,  so  as  to  suit  themselves  as  to  age  and 
other  qualities,  and  taken  from  the  best  families  of  the 
country  to  give  them  a  reputation,  —  such  as  Mr.  Otis, 
W.  Sullivan,  George  Lyman,  Prime  of  New  York,  etc., 
etc. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

1823-24.  —  Mr.  Bancroft  and  Mr.  Cogswell  establish  a  School  at 
Round  Hill,  Northampton,  Massachusetts.  —  Novelties  in  Plan  and 
Discipline.  —  Physical  Training.  —  Success  of  the  First  Year. 

r  I  ^HE  years  passed  at  Round  Hill,  in  the  prime  of  his 
-*-  life  and  of  all  his  powers,  were  the  most  influential 
years  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  career,  and  those  which  have  left 
the  most  interesting  impression  of  him  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  men  at  the  present  time.  His  later  labors  in 
the  Astor  Library,  were  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
scholars  of  the  United  States,  and  the  fundamental 
fact,  that  he  induced  Mr.  John  Jacob  Astor  to  give  that 
special  form  to  his  public  benefaction,  should  cause  his 
name  to  be  held  in  honor  by  students  everywhere. 

Still  the  impulse  to  thorough  and  scholarly  education 
given  by  the  Round  Hill  School,  was  more  absolutely 
Mr.  Cogswell's  own,  and  the  influence  he  exerted  on 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  many  hundreds  of  youths,  from 
all  parts  of  the  United  States,  was  more  personal  and 
direct,  than  any  that  could  be  exercised  by  persons  con- 
cerned in  ever  so  great  a  library.  Mr.  Cogswell's  power 
at  Round  Hill,  and  the  extraordinary  manner  in  which 
he  won,  and  preserved  the  affection  of  his  pupils,  were 
due  to  his  constant  exhibition  of  the  qualities  and  sym- 
pathies of  a  true  Christian  gentleman.1     He  trusted  his 

1  Similar  thoughts  are  expressed  in  a     School,  by  Mr.  T.  G.  Appleton,  himself 
very  genial  article  on  the  Round   Hill    a  Round  Hill  pupil,  in  the  Old  and  New 


Age  37]  SCHOOL   AT  ROUND  HILL.  1 39 

pupils,  and  treated  them  as  gentlemen  of  truth  and  of 
right  intentions,  until  they  made  it  unmistakably  mani- 
fest that  they  did  not  deserve  such  confidence,  and  then 
he  sent  them  away.  He  entered  into  their  interests, 
their  amusements  as  well  as  their  studies,  and  made  it 
perfectly  obvious  that  what  he  desired  was  to  awaken 
and  stimulate  all  that  was  best  in  their  minds  and  char- 
acters. His  love  of  Nature,  greatly  shown  in  his  selec- 
tion of  the  spot  where  he  established  the  school,  had  an 
influence,  imperceptible  no  doubt  to  most  of  the  boys, 
but  none  the  less  true  and  valuable.1 

During  a  part  of  his  life  at  Northampton,  the  pres- 
sure of  occupation  made  him  neglect  his  correspond- 
ence, and  through  the  whole  period  there  is,  of  course, 
less  variety  and  less  of  general  interest  in  his  letters, 
than  in  those  written  during  his  travels.     The  following 

for   July,    1S72.      He   says:    "While   it  and  the  clasp  which  held  them  all  was 

owed  much   to   the  proved   scholarship  their   reverence   and    affection    for    Mr. 

and  genius  of  Mr.  Bancroft  the  historian,  Cogswell." 

and  to  the  large  staff  of  officers   under  '  On  this  point   Mr.   Appleton   says  : 

him,  all    '  Round-Hillers,'  as   they  love  "But  the  side  influences  of  Round  Hill 

to   call  themselves,   agree  in  attributing  were,   perhaps,  the  best  part  of  it,   and 

to  the  singular  combination  of  admirable  are  certainly  what  the  scholars  love  and 

qualities  in  the   character  of  Mr.  Cogs-  remember  longest.    Many  another  school 

well  its  prosperity  and  success.     He  was  has  come  up  to  as  good  a  mark  of  train- 

a  man  who  united,  as  is  rarely  met,  the  mg  in  its  curriculum  ;  many,  no  doubt, 

qualities  of  the  man  of  study  and  of  ac-  have  been  superior,  in  the  severities  of 

tion.     His  head,  filled  as  it  was  with  the  classic  study,  to  Round  Hill.     Though 

learning  of  America  and  Europe,  could  one   of   the    most   distinguished    Greek 

not  overbalance  his  generous  large-heart-  scholars  of  Germany,   one  of  the  most 

edness  ;  so  completely,  without  attempt-  distinguished  Latin  scholars  of  America, 

ing  it  in  any  manner  but  by  the  direct  were  at  the  head  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 

display  of  his  own  character,  did  he  win  departments,   we   can   allow   this.      But 

the   respect   and   confidence   of    all    his  let  any  one  visit  the  lovely  site  of  this 

many  scholars Not  war,  not  dis-  school,  and  he  can  readily  imagine  how 

tance,  not  time,  could  ever  break  the  many  converging  influences   from  such 

bond  which  bound  them  to  each  other  ;  scenery  acted  upon  these  boys." 


140  yOSF.ril  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1823- 

extracts  must,  nevertheless,  form  an    important  and  in- 
teresting passage  in  the  narrative. 


[Northampton]  Sunday  Evening,  October  12,  1823.* 
Thinking,  my  clear  T.  that  you  would  like  to  know  how 
the  new  machinery  at  Round  Hill  works,  I  have  put 
off  writing  the  letter,  which  my  conscience  and  my  heart 
have  been  constantly  reminding  me  that  I  owed  you. 
A  full  week  has  now  been  past  in  my  new  occupation, 
and  the  boys  having  gone  to  bed,  all  is  quiet  at  home, 
so  that  an  opportunity  is  afforded  me  of  reporting  to 
you  thus  much  of  the  result  of  the  experiment. 

We  began  operations  on  the  1st  day  of  October,  as 
set  forth  in  the  Prospectus,1  but,  as  many  of  the  parents 
of  the  boys  were  still  loitering  about  the  house,  and  a 
part  of  the  domestic  establishment  not  fully  organized, 
I  gave  my  twig  of  the  birch  into  Bancroft's  hands,  till 
the  end  of  the  week,  and  exercised  my  authority  in 
other  departments  in  the  meanwhile. 

Last  Monday  morning,  however,  I  summoned  before 
me  my  portion  of  the  trembling  urchins  and  began  the 
delightful  task.  It  came  hard  enough  at  first,  I  am 
free  to  confess.  Every  subject  examined  gave  me  the 
promise  of  one  trial,  at  least,  in  the  work  before  me,  — 
it  was  either  obtuseness  to  be  sharpened,  obstinacy  to 
be  subdued,  roughness  to  be  smoothed,  rudeness  to  be 
snubbed,  habits  of  idleness  to  be  corrected,  new  notions 
of  study  to  be   infused,  or,  worse  than  all,  mind  to  be 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
1  See  Appendix  A  for  extracts  from  the  Prospectus. 


Age  37]  HOURS  AT  ROUND   HILL.  1 4 1 

created.  I  soon  found  that  the  only  course  to  be  fol- 
lowed was,  to  begin  de  novo  with  every  one,  and  to 
consider  them  as  opening  a  book  for  the  first  time. 

This  placed  the  whole  mountain  before  me  at  once, 
and  I  have  since  had  the  satisfaction  of  perceiving  that 
we  are  crawling  upward  toward  its  summit,  a  step  or 
two  every  day.  Our  number  is  25,  of  which  15  are 
with  us  altogether,  and  10  day  scholars  from  the  village. 
We  rise  at  six  and  meet  soon  after  for  prayers,  study 
till  eight,  at  which  hour  we  breakfast,  then  play  till 
nine,  from  nine  till  twelve  Stunden,1  dine  at  half  past 
twelve,  play  till  two,  from  two  to  five  Stunden,  sup  at 
half  past  five,  play  till  seven,  and  then  assemble  for 
the  evening  occupation,  which  thus  far  has  been  reading 
only,  as  there  was  scarce  one  among  the  number,  who 
could  read  English  decently.  A  little  before  nine  they 
are  dismissed  and  go  to  bed.  Thus  far  all  has  gone  on 
perfectly  smooth,  though  a  more  patience-exhausting 
task  was  never  taken  in  hand  ;  but  I  feel  very  much 
encouraged,  the  effect  of  our  labor  is  already  seen  in 
manners,  habits  of  study  and  interest  in  what  is  to  be 
learnt,  and  I  do  believe  there  must  be  some  satisfaction 
in  cultivating  such  a  fine  field,  and  seeing  so  early  and 
ever  increasing  fruit  from  it. 

I  am  more  convinced  than  ever  of  the  necessity  of  a 
reform  in  our  system  of  instruction,  for  there  is  not  a 
single  boy  of  our  number,  collected,  as  they  are,  from 
the  several  extremes  of  our  country,  who  bears  the 
marks  of  even  tolerable  teaching  or  discipline 

1  The  term  for  hours  of  lessons  with  which  Mr.  Cogswell  had  become  familiar  in 
Germany. 


142  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1823. 

I  intended  to  have  suited  a  portion  of  this  letter  a 
little  more  to  the  taste  of  your  dear  wife,  —  she  has  a  full 
portion  of  my  love,  I  assure  her,  and  that  I  am  deter- 
mined to  send  her  in  spite  of  her  husband.  Tell  her 
that  the  law  of  a  clean  tablecloth  every  day  has  been 
carried  into  execution  triumphantly,  that  the  boys  have 
clean  napkins  almost  as  often,  and  that  each  has  his 
own  labelled,  which  secures  to  him  the  advantage  of  a 
clean  one  at  every  meal,  and  that  each,  moreover,  has 
a  clean  wiping  towel  every  other  morning.  Determined 
to  carry  this  through  I  have  made  a  provision  of  above 
400  napkins,  and  consequently  hope  never  to  hear  that 
there  are  none  clean  in  the  house.  If  you  are  still  at 
Watertown  give  my  best  love  to  Elizabeth  and  Frank,1 
also  to  Susan  and  William,  when  you  see  them.  Very 
particular  remembrances  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Prescott, 
Mrs.  Eliot,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norton,  go  also  in  the  same 
parcel.  Tell  Mrs.  E.  that  the  plants  all  got  up  safely 
and  are  now  very  thriving. 

Northampton,  October  26,  1823*  ....  I  am  very 
happy  in  being  able  to  say  that  every  day  gives  us  the 
satisfaction  of  perceiving  that  we  are  not  laboring  in 
vain.  In  regard  to  order,  correctness  of  deportment, 
and  docility  of  disposition  we  have  made  a  progress 
with  our  pupils  very  far  beyond  my  expectations,  so 
much  so  that  I  really  feel  that  the  three  last  weeks  of 
my  life  have  been  productive  of  more  good  to  my  kind 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Franklin  Dexter  (Miss  Prescott),  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Pres- 
cott. 


Age  37-1  PLAN  OF  INSTRUCTION.  1 43 

than  all  the  rest  of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  in  regard 
to  improvement  in  knowledge,  they  have  fallen  as  far 
below  my  standard. 

My  principle  in  instruction  is  to  send  a  boy  back  to 
his  place  for  a  single  error,  which  he  might  have  avoided 
by  care  and  diligence,  and  there  is  not  yet  one  among 
the  whole,  whom  I  do  not  send  back  half  a  dozen  times 
in  every  lesson.  I  do  not  form  any  classes,  but  allow 
every  one  to  get  as  much  of  any  book  which  he  is 
studying,  as  he  can  do,  in  the  time  assigned  for  that 
exercise,  telling  him  that  he  may  recite  as  soon  as  he 
is  ready,  but  cautioning  him,  at  the  same  time,  that  the 
least  failure  sends  him  back,  and  obliges  him  to  wait 
till  the  rest  have  been  brought  to  trial.  You  see,  in 
this  way,  we  lose  the  common  motive  of  emulation,  but 
we  substitute  for  a  desire  of  relative  superiority,  that 
of  absolute  excellence ;  and,  you  know,  we  derive  no  aid 
from  the  fear  of  the  lash. 1  These  two  circumstances 
increase  our  labor  very  much,  for  the  present,  but  I 
am  convinced  the  result  will  be  worth  the  pains.  Al- 
though we  inflict  no  punishments,  properly  speaking, 
you  must  not  think  we  allow  a  boy  to  suppose  that 
there  is  no  evil  to  result  from  disobedience,  or  idleness, 

1    Charleston    [S.  C]     Courier,    1823  :  they  think  that  ingenuous  youth,  kindly 

"  One  entirely  novel  plan  [for  education]  and   faithfully   counselled   and   directed, 

has  been  formed   by   Messrs.    Cogswell  will  be  happy  as  they  are  informed,  that 

and    Bancroft,  both   of  whom  have   en-  they   will  find   the   ways    of  knowledge 

joyed  European  advantages,  in  addition  to  be  paths  of  pleasantness  and  will  love 

to  those  of  this  country In   ex-  to  pursue  them  ;  that  knowledge   is   its 

citing  the  efforts  of  their  pupils  they  dis-  own  best  reward,  that  it  is  the  race  of 

claim  the  vulgar  impulse  of  fear  nor  do  happiness,  and  that  he  who  is   happier 

they  rely  on  the  mere  amiable  influence  than  his  neighbor,  ought  not   therefore 

of  emulation They   think   that  to  boast  of  it." 

learning  may  be  loved  for  her  own  sake, 


144  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1823. 

or  misconduct.  We  endeavor  to  ascertain  what  every 
one  can  do,  and  then  we  secure  the  performance  of  the 
task,  by  cutting  off  all  hopes  of  being  allowed  to  play 
until  it  is  performed.  This  bears  sometimes  very  hard 
upon  ourselves,  but  we  have  found  it  very  effectual. 
As  to  disobedience,  we  have  an  equally  certain  way 
of  preventing  that,  by  seeing  that  every  command  is 
obeyed  when  given.  Our  only  check  upon  general 
misconduct  is  the  knowledge  which  they  all  have,  that 
they  will  remain  with  us  no  longer  than  they  show 
themselves  fit  subjects  for  our  modes  of  discipline,  and, 

thus  far,  this  has  been  sufficient 

For  the  last  fortnight  we  have  had  a  regular  trial  of 
skill  in  running  round  our  wood,  which  is  a  measured 
distance  of  half  a  mile.  Five  minutes  before  8  we 
let  the  boys  out  for  their  morning  exercise,  and  head 
them  in  a  race.  The  shortest  time  in  which  the  heat 
has  been  run  is  35  minutes.  To-day  (Sunday,  but  after 
sunset),  I  run  twice  round,  making  a  mile,  in  6|  min- 
utes, and  next  week  we  have  ordered  a  double  heat  for 
all  the  boys.  We  are  all  in  perfect  health,  and  so  con- 
tented on  our  little  hill  that  we  never  go  down,  even 
to  see  the  villagers.  The  boys  have  never  asked  to 
go  off  the  hill  on  any  occasion,  although  there  have 
been  military  musters  and  cattle  shows ;  and  never 
have  been  away  for  a  single  moment  without  us,  since 
they  came  here. 

Northampton,  November  28,  1823.*  .  .  .  .  You  have 
probably  heard  from  Ticknor  that  all  goes  on  smoothly 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  3/.]  THE  FAMILY  AT  ROUND   HILL.  1 45 

with  us ;  we  have  no  refractory  boys,  none  who  may  be 
called  so  much  as  difficult  to  govern  ;  in  no  case  has  any 
disregard  or  disobedience  of  our  commands  been  shown, 
nor  have  we  at  any  time  seen  an  instance  where  more 
could  have  been  effected,  by  the  use  of  corporeal  punish- 
ment, than  we  have  done  by  verbal  reproof.  Still  our 
task  is  a  most  arduous  one,  for  although  our  children  are 
docile,  they  are  wild  as  young  colts,  and  require  to  be 
constantly  curbed,  and  guided  by  a  very  tight  rein.  In 
the  school-room  they  draw  upon  me  for  my  full  stock  of 
patience,  and  that,  not  because  they  are  noisy  and  rebel- 
lious, but  because  they  are  most  unreasonably  dull.  I 
am  sure  Job  could  not  have  stood  out  under  such  a  trial. 

You  can  have  no  conception  of  the  sham  which 
school-masters  make  of  the  work  of  instruction,  without 
a  chance  for  proving  them,  similar  to  that  which  we  now 
have.  It  would  not  be  seemly  in  me  to  boast,  but  I  must 
say  that  boys  never  went  through  such  a  trial,  as  they  do 
with  us.  The  method  of  instruction  which  we  adopt, 
furnishes  as  delicate  a  test  for  the  presence  of  brains,  as 
prussic  acid  does  for  that  of  iron. 

As  to  our  domestic  organization  and  arrangement, 
about  which  you  would  doubtless  like  to  know  some- 
thing—  we  are  at  present  stowed  in  two  of  the  Shep- 
herd houses  on  Round  Hill,  Mr.  B.  in  one  and  myself  in 
the  other.  Our  family  consists  of  Mr.  B.,  Mr.  Hentz 
and  myself,  Miss  Bancroft,  sixteen  boys  and  four  serv- 
ants. My  sister  could  not  get  ready  to  join  us  until  Jan- 
uary  

We  take  a  great  deal  of  exercise,  running,  jumping, 
leaping,  climbing,  etc.  Every  Saturday  afternoon  we 
19 


146  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  I1823. 

walk  from  twelve  to  sixteen  miles.  The  day  after 
Thanksgiving  I  took  six  of  them  with  me  to  Hartford. 
We  walked  the  first  twenty-one  miles  before  noon,  and 
rode  the  remaining  twenty-seven  after  dinner.  The  next 
day  we  visited  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  and 
other  curiosities  in  Hartford,  returned  to  Round  Hill  by 
seven  in  the  evening,  making  in  the  whole  about  one 
hundred  miles,  and  were  absent  but  thirty-seven  hours, 
and  performed  nearly  half  of  the  distance  on  foot.  So 
that  you  may  judge  we  are  strong  and  well,  which  is  the 
fact,  and  so  we  have  all  been,  ever  since  our  residence 
here.     We  live  as  simply  as  possible,  and  eat  the  best 

food  we  can  get  of  this  kind Commend  me  most 

particularly  and  affectionately  to  all  to  whom  I  belong, 
and  tell  them  that  I  hope  to  shake  off  my  chains,  before 
many  months,  long  enough  to  spend  a  week,  at  least, 
where  the  largest  and  best  part  of  my  affections  will  ever 
dwell.  Adieu  my  dear  D.  From  my  chair  of  state  in 
the  rising  Seminary  on  Round  Hill. 

Ever  yours,  C. 

Northampton,  November  30,  [1823].*  ....  We  do 
not  accustom  them  to  make  a  great  deal  of  little  things. 
Neither  cold,  nor  rain,  nor  snow  keeps  them  in  doors,  at 
hours  assigned  for  play,  nor  do  they  mind  a  long  walk, 
or  run,  or  such  fatigues  as  children  of  their  age  generally 
find  quite  beyond  their  strength.  I  took  a  party  of  them 
with  me  to  Springfield,  the  day  after  Thanksgiving, 
(twenty-one  miles).  On  our  way,  one  of  them  men- 
tioned to  me,  that  the  pegs  in  the  heel    of    his  shoe 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  37]  PHYSICAL   AND   MORAL    TRAINING.  147 

troubled  him  a  good  deal.  I  stopped  and  examined  his 
foot,  and  found  that  the  ends  of  some  nails  had  worn 
through  his  stocking,  and  had  made  his  heels  bleed  a 
little,  but,  as  there  was  no  remedy,  I  told  him  that  we 
had  but  seven  miles  farther  to  walk  and  that  he  must 
bear  it ;  he  said  not  a  word  more  of  the  pain.  To 
pay  him  for  his  fortitude  I  bought  him  a  new  pair  of 
shoes  at  Hartford,  and  with  them  he  came  back  as  brisk 
as  any  of  us.  On  the  same  excursion  I  had  a  chance  of 
trying  the  courage  of  them  all ;  as  we  were  straitened 
for  time,  I  was  obliged  to  transport  them  from  Spring- 
field  to  Hartford  in  a  wagon.  It  was  late  in  the  evening 
and  very  dark  before  we  reached  the  latter,  and  the 
roads  were  very  bad,  and,  moreover,  I  was  a  stranger  upon 
them ;  but  they  did  not  discover  the  least  fear  while  I 
was  driving  them  there ;  and,  in  the  same  way  on  our 
return  to  Northampton,  they  trudged  over  the  meadows 
with  me,  at  the  rate  of  four  and  a  half  miles  per  hour, 
when  it  was  so  dark  that  we  could  not  see  where  to  place 
the  next  step.  I  have  got  a  few  of  them  up  to  a  like 
degree  of  mental  courage,  or,  rather,  confidence  in  their 
own  strength,  by  refusing  to  help  them  out  of  any  but 
real  difficulties  in  their  lessons,  and  compelling  them  to 
feel  their  own  way 

Northampton,  Dece7>iber  7,  1823.*  ....  We  are  now 
so  near  the  end  of  our  quarter  that  we  may  venture  to 
say  we  shall  get  through  without  a  rebellion, and  I  flatter 
myself  we  shall  be  able  to  add  that  this  has  been  done 
without  any  temporizing  concessions.     Our  authority,  it 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor. 


148  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1823. 

is  true,  has  not  been  much  disputed,  but  when  it  has  we 
have  never  beaten  a  parley  to  the  enemy.  We  feel  now 
that  the  discipline  of  our  school  is  established  upon  the 
best  basis,  that  of  unqualified,  implicit  obedience,  and  we 
shall  take  care  not  to  recede  a  hair. 

Our  boys  were  so  young,  so  badly  instructed,  and  for 
the  most  part  so  dull,  that  we  have  no  great  account  to 
give  of  their  progress  in  learning.  Mr.  Bancroft  has 
carried  five  or  six  through  Virgil,  and  got  them  along  a 
little  way  in  Greek.  One  of  mine  has  gone  through 
Kennett's  Roman  Antiquities,  with  care  ;  two  thirds  of 
Nepos,  Murray's  English  Grammar,  and  learned  the 
principles  of  the  structure  of  an  English  sentence,  of 
which  he  knew  not  a  word  before,  and  will  finish  Watts 
on  the  Improvement  of  the  Mind.  He  is  also  young, 
not  yet  eleven,  and  by  no  means  among  the  most  studi- 
ous, but  among  the  brightest.  Although  we  have,  as  yet, 
but  little  to  show  as  the  proofs  of  our  labor,  we  have  the 
satisfaction  of  perceiving  that  it  has  not  been  lost,  hav- 
ing completely  established  the  principles,  that  the  school- 
room is  the  place  for  study  alone,  which  in  no  case,  and 
for  no  purpose,  is  to  be  interrupted  by  a  single  whisper; 
that  no  lesson  is  ever  to  be  heard  until  it  is  thoroughly 
known,  and,  that  failing  in  one  jot  or  one  tittle,  is  to  be 
guilty  of  the  whole  law 

My  mind  begins  to  dwell  a  good  deal  upon  my  ap- 
proaching visit  to  Boston,  and  sometimes  when  I  think' 
how  happy  you  have  made  me  in  your  house,  and  how 
happy  I  may  hope  to  be  there  again,  I  discover  some- 
thing very  like  impatience  to  wear  away  the  time.  I 
know  that  I  ought  to  place  myself  unconditionally  at 


Agk  37.]  REMEMBRANCE  OF  FRIENDS.  1 49 

the  disposal  of  yourself  and  your  husband,  and  so  I  will, 
with  a  single  reserve,  which  is  that  I  am  to  stay  at  home 
all  the  time,  and  slip  down  in  the  study,  whenever  there 
are  visitors  in  the  parlor 

I  will  promise  to  be  very  agreeable,  whenever  you 
will  let  me  have  a  place  by  your  side,  and  are  disposed 
to  talk  with  me,  and  very  silent  whenever  I  perceive 
that  you  are  weary.  Moreover  I  engage  not  to  touch 
upon  the  subject  of  College  above  once  in  a  day,  nor 
of  Round  Hill  more  than  twice. 

When  you  look  in  upon  Mrs.  Prescott  and  Elizabeth 
remember  to  leave  my  love  with  them,  not  forgetting 
Susan.  Beside  these,  and  those  who  depend  upon 
them,  there  are  not  many  to  whom  I  owe  much  affec- 
tion. If  it  were  not  for  you  and  a  few,  a  very  few  like 
you,  I  should  almost  wish  to  be  forgotten,  but,  while 
there  are  such,  I  will  never  give  up  an  atom  of  my 
share  in  their  affections.  My  best  love  to  your  hus- 
band and  to  yourself.  C. 

Northampton,  March  28,  1824*.  .  .  .  The  Spring 
has  been  opening  so  delightfully,  since  the  Equinox, 
that  I  could  not  resist  its  invitations  to  keep  out  of 
doors,  and,  as  I  now  feel  myself  quite  a  farmer,  I  have 
taken    an    interest    in    its    progress,   even    beyond    that 

which  a  love    of    reviving  nature    excites I  am 

quite  impatient  for  the  springing  verdure  and  the  burst- 
ing bud  and  the  opening  blossom,  and,  still  more  so, 
for  the  gay  season  of  summer,  when  we  shall  be  skip- 
ping round  our  woods  with  you  and  T.     We  have  made 

*  To  Mrs.  George  Ticknor,  Boston. 


150  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1824. 

several  excursions  of  late  with  our  boys,  but  none  to 
any  considerable  distance,  until  yesterday,  when  we  took 
nine  of  them  a  walk,  or  rather  a  wading  through  the 
mud,  of  five  miles.  The  fine  sun  and  genial  breeze 
put  them  into  such  high  life  and  spirits,  that  the  strong- 
est division  of  them  returned  the  five  miles  with  me 
in  exactly  an  hour.  It  was  not  in  consequence  of  my 
putting  them  on,  for  I  could  not  stop  them.  The  fore- 
most so  far  outstripped  me,  that  I  never  got  up  with 
him  until  we  reached  Round  Hill.  It  is  truly  comfort- 
ing to  see  what  can  be  made  of  man  by  care,  and  to 
find  how  few  of  the  species  there  are  in  whom  there 
is  so  little  susceptibility  of  improvement  as  to  render 
them  unworthy  the  name  of  man. 

No  person  of  the  least  philanthrophy,  can  be  un- 
happy, who  is  the  daily  and  hourly  witness  of  a  regular 
advancement  toward  a  higher  moral  and  intellectual  con- 
dition in  a  number  of  human  beings,  at  an  age  which 
justifies  the  hope  of  a  continued  and  still  greater  pro- 
gress.1 We  cannot  take  any  satisfaction  in  ourselves, 
when  we  perceive  that  the  same  point  in  every  revolving 

1  Here  another  extract  from  Mr.  Ap-  Indeed,  his  relation  to  the  boys  was 
pleton's  article  seems  appropriate.  He  scarcely  even  that  of  a  teacher.  He  was 
says  Mr.  Cogswell's  "  was  an  educa-  the  organizer,  manager,  and  father  of 
tional  and  training  establishment,  which  the  community,  while  his  partner,  Mr. 
rendered  the  services  of  book-learning,  Bancroft,  did  a  great  deal  more  of  the 
and  study,  but  accessories  to  the  larger  teaching ;  and  a  large  staff  of  German, 
intention  of  making  the  man  and  the  French,  and  Italians,  as  well  as  eminent 
gentleman.  He  was  in  his  school,  as  in  young  men  fresh  from  our  college  train- 
one  of  his  summer  excursion  walks,  ing,  all  worked  assiduously  under  his 
where  he  led  off  the  procession,  a  boy  general  supervision.  His  department  es- 
of  a  larger  growth  and  maturer  experi-  pecially  was  that  of  moral  and  affection- 
ence,  but  nevertheless  one  of  the  party,  ate  influence,  besides  which  he  was  head 
and  by  no  means  a  Jupiter  Tonans,  frown-  farmer,  builder,  gardener,  and  treasurer 
ing  from  his  arm-chair  on  a  raised  plat-  of  the  place." 
form,   aloof   and   apart    from    the    rest. 


Age  37.]  CAPACITY  FOR  IMPROVEMENT.  I  5  I 

year  finds  us  just  where  we  were.  We  must  improve 
in  something,  or  we  must  despise  ourselves,  and  so  it 
is  with  everything  around  us,  whatever  stands  still  soon 
ceases  to  interest.  It  is  this  principle  in  our  nature 
which  constitutes  the  charm  of  "  rearing  the  tender 
thought,"  and  so  satisfied  am  I  that  the  capacity  for 
improvement  is  the  characteristic  of  man,  and  conse- 
quently found  in  everything  human,  that  I  am  willing 
to  risk  the  opinion  that  when  none  is  made,  the  fault 
must  lie  as  much  in  the  teacher  as  in  the  one  to  be 
taught.  Good  example  and  perseverance  are  next  to 
omnipotent.  Hence  if  you  do  but  establish  right  habits 
in  the  flock,  and  take  pains  enough  with  those  who 
require  exciting,  exhorting,  reproving,  checking,  taming, 
the  wicked  spirit  must  leave  it.  You  will  infer  from 
such  positions  as  these  that  I  think  their  truth  has  been 
exemplified  in  our  own  pupils,  and  so  I  do,  as  far  as 
depends  on  ourselves,  but  we  have  influences  from  with- 
out to  contend  against. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

1824-28.  —  Difficulties  about  Purchasing  the  Round  Hill  Estate. — 
Passing  Plan  of  going  to  the  North  River.  —  Continued  Success. — 
Enlargement  of  Buildings.  —  Increase  of  Numbers. 

TVTORTHAMPTON,  April  1,  1824*  ....  I  in- 
*-  ^  tended  to  have  saved  you  the  postage  on  this 
letter,  my  dear  Mrs.  P.,  by  being  my  own  post-boy,  but 
as  circumstances  have  happened  to  delay  my  journey 
to  the  new  city  until  next  week,  I  have  concluded  to 
tax  you  the  ninepence.  You  know  what  a  whirl  I 
have  been  in  the  last  three  months After  re- 
solving and  re-resolving  we  concluded  at  last  to  make 
Round  Hill  our  resting  place,  and  we  are  now  satisfied 
that  \\  is  a  wise  decision,  not  only  as  it  respects  our 
happiness,  but,  also,  as  respects  our  interest1  ....  You 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  Having  taken  an  eight  months'  lease  The  premises  consisted  of  "  three  square 

of  Round   Hill  with  a  view  to  purchase  houses,  each  of  two  stories,  having  four 

if  they  were  satisfied,  they  found  in  No-  rooms  and  a  large  entry  or  hall  between, 

vember  that   the  owner  added  $1,500  to  beside  a  basement  cellar  and  servants' 

the  first  price,  and  would  not  renew  the  rooms."      The    two    outermost    houses 

lease  on   the   original  terms.     They  re-  were    appropriated    to    the    boys,    with 

solved  to   look  elsewhere,  and  selected  Mr.  Cogswell   as  guardian  of  one,  and 

a  place   on    the    Hudson   River.      This  Mr.  Bancroft  of  the   other.     In  one  was 

brought   the   owner   of   Round    Hill    to  the  schoolroom,  occupying  half  the  lower 

terms,  and  on   the   12th  of  March,  Mr.  floor,  with  a  portion  of  the  hall  taken  off 

Cogswell  wrote,  "  We  closed  a  bargain  for  recitation  rooms.     The  middle  house 

with    Shepherd   to-day,    for    the    whole  contained   "  kitchen,   refectory,  laundry, 

estate  at  $12,000,  and  the  day  schooling  hospital,  etc.,  with  a  spare  room  or  two 

of  a  young  son  of  his  for  eight  years."  for  a  friend." 


Age  37.]  SECL  US  ION.  1 5  3 

must  have  a  great  regard  for  the  Northampton  people, 
I  am  sure,  or  you  would  not  have  lashed  your  old  friends 
so  unmercifully  in  their  cause ;  now  if  you  will  but 
come  and  see  us,  we  will  invite  them  all  to  meet  you, 
and  accompany  you,  moreover,  to  return   all  the  calls 

they  make  upon  you To  be  serious,  however, 

you  do  us  injustice  in  supposing  that  we  have  shown 
any  disrespect  to  the  people  of  this  place.  We  did  not 
formally  return  all  visits  which  were  made  to  us,  it  is 
true,  because  we  meant  that  they  should  understand  our 
duties  would  not  allow  us  to  exchange  the  common 
civilities  of  society,  and  that  our  lives  must  be  those 
of  retired  scholars.  At  the  same  time  we  never  omit- 
ted any  opportunity  of  manifesting  our  respect,  and 
reciprocating  courtesies,  which  did  not  interfere  with 
our  regular  and  necessary  vocations.  If  we  have  not 
been  faithful  to  our  charge  we  must  expect  to  hear  the 
language  of  complaint,  but  if  we  have  given  up  our 
pleasures  and  gratifications  for  the  sake  of  a  more  scru- 
pulous fidelity,  our  motives,  at  least,  ought  to  be  a  justi- 
fication for  omissions  of  other  duties,  which  it  would 
have  been  better  not  to  have  left  undone.  I  am  truly 
obliged  to  you  for  my  part  of  the  reprimand,  as  it  gives 
me  an  opportunity  to  explain  and  I  hope,  in  some  meas- 
ure, to  exculpate  myself.  ....  I  feel  as  if  I  should 
taste,  with  a  keen  relish,  a  few  days  of  social  pleasures, 
and  am  promising  myself  a  great  treat  in  my  approach- 
ing visit  to  Boston.  I  wish  I  knew  what  everybody 
talks  about  now,  that  I  might  prepare  myself  to  appear 

in  the  world  and  not  seem  like  one  fresh  caught 

I  want  you  to  allow  me  to  engage  myself  to  dine  with 


154  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1824. 

you  the  second  day  of  my  being  in  Boston,  whether 
sooner  or  later,  and  so,  I  shall  say  at  a  venture,  I 
am  .... 

Tuesday  Evening,  August  5,  [1824.]*  I  promised 
myself  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you  last  Sunday,  but 
it  was  my  watch  on  deck,  and  since  then  all  my  odd 
minutes  have  been  stolen  from  me  by  visitors.  We  are 
almost  sorry  you  came  to  see  us.  We  had  become  so 
accustomed  to  our  cells,  and  to  our  solitude,  that  we  had 
acquired  something  very  near  a  calm  resignation  to  the 
fate  which  imprisons  us.  You  revived  in  us  a  longing 
for  the  world,  and  if  you  should  hear  that  we  have  grown 
discontented  and  uneasy,  you  must  charge  it  all  to  the 
sweet  vision  which  fills  our  fancies  ever  since  you  were 

with  us We  have  been  going  on  just  as  you  saw 

us.  The  next  Saturday  I  took  the  boys  a  walk  of  ten 
miles  through  the  woods  in  search  of  berries,  and  had 
a  good  frolic  with  them.  For  four  miles  we  could  dis- 
cover no  track  by  which  to  direct  our  steps,  and  often 
could  not  see  the  sun,  from  the  thickness  of  the  shades 
through  which  we  crawled  and  crept.  Still  no  creature 
of  them  flinched,  although  the  flock  consisted  of  eight- 
een of  the  smallest,  including  Daniel  and  Sam.  Dexter. 
We  preserve  our  tranquillity  and  our  industry,  and  the 
boys  their  mirth  and  gayety. 

The  clean  smooth  floor  of  the  new  hall  was  skipped 
over  by  our  Vestris  for  the  first  time  this  morning, 
and  the  carpenters  thereupon  transferred    the  noise  of 

*  To  Mrs.  George  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  38.]  WINTER   SESSION.  1 55 

their  implements  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  new  kitch- 
en.1 

Round  Hill,  January  9,  1825.*  ....  The  sight  of 
your  good  long  letter  set  in  motion  a  current,  that  car- 
ried more  joy  to  my  heart  than  it  has  been  in  the  habit 
of  feeling  of  late,  and  dear  E.'s  little  affectionate  post- 
script drew  forth  a  warmer  tear  than  has  trickled  down 
my  cheek  this  many  a  day.  It  is  a  heartrending  trial, 
I  assure  you,  my  dear  D.,  to  be  obliged  to  fear  that  such 
ties  as  bind  me  to  you  all,  are  loosened,  and,  sometimes, 
when  I  imagined  that  you  intended  they  should  be,  "  the 
scene  of  human  things  "  appeared  dark  enough  before 
me.  Now  all  I  want,  to  restore  the  wonted  light  to  my 
horizon,  is  to  see  you  and  be  with  you,  as  long  as  you 
would  consent  to  keep  me.  Our  winter  session  is  a  hor- 
rid long  one,  and,  as  things  are  at  present,  it  would  be 
moral  treason  to  desert  one's  .post,  but  we  have  now  a 
plan  in  agitation,  which  will  remove  the  necessity  of  such 
rigid  confinement. 

In  the  Spring  we  divide  the  school  into  two  depart- 
ments, much  after  the  manner  of  the  Academy  at  Exeter 
—  the  philological  and  the- mathematical.  The  former 
includes  all  that  relates  to  instruction  in  the  ancient  lan- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  In  June  Mr.  Cogswell  wrote,  "  We  this  time  refer  to  negotiations  for  teach- 

have  five  or  six  too  many  for  Mr.  B.,  Mr.  ers  of  writing,  and  drawing,  and  of  cl.in- 

Hentz,  and  myself  to  do  full  justice  to,  cing,  an  assistant  in  mathematics,  and  a 

and  not  quite  enough  to  cover  the  ex-  Spaniard,  probably  as  teacher  of  modern 

penses   of  the   necessary   additional    in-  languages.     In    1826,   "  Native    teachers 

struction.     After  October  we  shall  have  of  the   four  most  important   continental 

forty,  and  there  we  stop,  so  long  as  I  am  languages,  French,  German,  Italian,  and 

one   of  the   number."      The   letters   at  Spanish"  were  connected  with  the  school. 


156  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1825. 

guages,  of  which  Mr.  B.  is  to  have  the  special  charge ; 
the  latter,  mathematics  proper,  and  whatever  is  con- 
nected with  them,  to  be  directed  by  myself;  the  modern 
languages,  and  studies  not  properly  embraced  in  the 
above  division,  to  be  apportioned  to  each  as  may  seem 
most  fit.  Each  of  us  is  to  have  a  collaborator,  of  his 
own  nomination,  but  concurrent  appointment.  We  are 
to  have  separate  school-rooms,  but  one  of  them  is  to  be 
sufficiently  large  to  contain  the  whole  in  case  of  emer- 
gency. You  will  conclude  from  this,  that  we  do  not 
doubt  of  continued  success,  nor  have  we  any  reason  to 
do  it,  unless  we  doubt  of  our  continued  fidelity. 

We  are  already  too  large  to  be  in  one  family  and  en- 
joy much  domestic  comfort,  or  preserve  that  degree  of 
order  which  is  essential  to  our  system,  and  therefore  we 
propose  to  form  two,  an  arrangement  which  will  greatly 
facilitate  an  object  I  have  much  at  heart,  that  of  having 
a  hand  in  the  education  of  some  of  my  nephews.  Next 
May  I  mean  to  obtain  the  consent  of  fathers  and  mothers 
to  such  a  cruel  separation,  and  so  I  would  have  you 
make  up  your  minds  in  season  as  to  which  you  will  part 
with. 

There  never  was  a  more  healthy  place  than  Northamp- 
ton, particularly  the  hill  on  which  we  live.  Sixteen 
months'  experience  warrants  me  in  saying  this,  during 
which  we  have  never  had  a  single  case  of  illness,  and 
scarcely  lost  an  hour's  study  of  any  pupil  by  slight  in- 
disposition. We  are  also  very  merciful  to  our  boys  as 
to  labor  ....  as  far  as  we  can  judge  they  are  all  con- 
tented and  happy.1     They  never  appear  to  want  means 

1  Proof  and  illustration  of  this  may     ready   quoted.      He    speaks  of   horses 
be  found  in  Mr.  Appleton's  article  al-     bought  for  the  use  of  the  boys,  "  and  in 


Age  38.]  PUNCTUALITY.  1 57 

of  amusement,  even  in  this  gloomy  season  of  winter,  for 
when  it  is  neither  skating  nor  coasting  clown  hill,  they 
can  always  cut  and  saw  wood,  which  we  oblige  them  to 
do  for  themselves,  as  well  as  to  make  their  own  fires  in 
the  rooms  appropriated  exclusively  to  them.  I  cannot 
omit  mentioning  one  fact,  to  show  you  that  they  must 
be  pretty  well  trained.  We  have  no  bell,  nor  any  signal 
by  which  they  are  summoned,  and  yet  they  are  punctual. 
In  my  house  I  call  up  the  boy  whose  turn  it  is  to  make 
the  fire,  and  he  calls  the  rest,  and  this  is  the  sum  of  all 
the  trouble  it  costs  me.  You  speak  of  the  delightful 
tranquillit/  in  which  you  are  writing.  I  think  I  am  even 
with  you  there.  At  this  very  moment  there  are  six  ur- 
chins about  me,  the  sum  of  whose  ages  does  not  amount 
to  fifty.  Let  this  excuse  any  incoherencies  which  you 
may  discover. 

July  20,  1825.*  ....  I  am  very  good  natured,  every- 
body knows,  but   I  shall   really  show  that  I  have  some 

*  To  Mrs.  C.  S.  Daveis. 

a  cloud  of  cavalry  we  were  accustomed  to  bricks  and  mortar,  beams  and  boards  ; 
scour  the  plain  as  far  as  the  distant  banks  and,  generally  dividing  into  families  of 
of  the  Connecticut ;  "  of  the  garden,  "a  two,  soon  the  little  colony  was  construct- 
considerable  bit  of  ground  between  the  ed;  and  the  evening  smoke  ascended 
gymnasium  and  the  farm-house,  where  from  many  hearths,  round  which  we  were 
many  infant  lessons  in  farming  were  seated,  reading,  or  playing  friendly  games, 
gained,"  and  adds,  "a  greater  pleasure  or  devouring,  with  a  relish  which  no  after- 
than  the  garden  was  the  unexpected  bliss,  meals  could  know,  Carolina  potatoes 
through  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Cogswell,  drawn  from  the  ashes,  each  an  ingot  of 
of  being  co-proprietors  of  a  boy-village,  pure  gold,  with  added  gold  of  butter  ; 
not  to  be  found  on  any  map,  which  bore  game,  such  as  squirrels,  the  spoil  of  our 
the  happy  name  of  Crony  Village.'  Its  bows,  or  rabbits  caught  in  our  traps  ;  and 
site  was  beyond  the  gymnasium,  on  a  pies  and  doughnuts,  brought  in  mysteri- 
sloping  hill,  running  downward  to  a  ous  raids  from  distant  taverns  and  farm- 
brook.     Mr.  Cogswell  furnished  us  with  houses." 


158  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  In- 

spirit within  me,  if  you  fail  in  the  promise  made  to  me 
in  Portland.  But  the  fine  season  is  already  raising  its 
wing  for  flight,  and  if  you  do  not  come  soon,  we  shall 
have  but  half  our  beauties  to  show  you.  We  have  a 
merry  parcel  of  boys  here  now.  If  Oilman  were  here 
he  would  complete  our  threescore  and  ten,  —  and  what 
kind  of  a  family  is  this  to  have  charge  of,  do  you  think. 
We  lodge  and  feed  a  hundred  every  day  and  still  we 
live,  although  the  thermometer  is  rarely  below  90. 

Pray  send  me  a  line  at  least,  or,  what  would  be  in- 
finitely better,  obey  this  summons  and  present  yourself 
before  us.  Ah,  dear  E.  I  am  afraid  the  struggle  is  too 
great  for  that  tender,  maternal  heart  of  yours.  But,  if 
Gilman  must  be  made  a  man  of  and  you  must  part 
from  him,  where  do  you  think  he  could  be  sent,  to  find, 
in  the  substitute  for  you  and  his  father,  one  who  loves 
him  more  than  I  do?  Only  come  and  see  for  yourself. 
....  I  tell  you  we  study  to  make  our  boys  happy,  as 
well  as  industrious,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  say  so,  when 
you  have  been  with  us  a  week.  My  best  love  to  all, 
and  a  little  scolding  to  Daveis  for  not  answering  my 
letter.     With  unchanging  affection, 

Your  devoted  brother,  J.  G.  C. 

Round  Hill,  August  3,  1825.*.  ...  I  am  going,  with 
forty  of  the  boys,  to  Wachusett,  Pepperell,  etc.,  to  return 
via  Nahantand  Boston.1     The  train  consists  of  one  huge 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  Mr.  Appleton  says  :  "  The  element  Swiss  schools,  was  the  annual  journey 
in  the  school  which  was  the  most  dis-  we  took.  What  a  buzz  of  preparation 
tinctive  perhaps,  and  borrowed  from  the     preceded  it  !     How  our  muscles  were 


Age  39.]  GROWTH  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  1 59 

wagon,  with  twenty-five  souls  on  board,  and  the  residue 
on  foot.  Should  you  and  dear  E.  be  in  Boston  at  that 
time,  we  could  almost  go  home  together,  at  least  heave 

in  sight,  and  hail  each  other  often  on  the  road 

The  one  thing  essential  is  to  come,  and  come,  too, 
before  the  glooms  of  autumn  have  gathered  over  our 
verdant  vales  and  beautiful  mountains.  We  have  still 
some  loveliness  left,  but  we  are  nothing  to  what  we  have 
been.1 

Northampton,  September  10,  1826.*  ....  When  you 
and  dear  E.  were  with  us,  last  summer,  you  thought  we 
had  a  host,  and  our  number  then  scarcely  exceeded  80. 
Now  we  are  within  three  of  one  hundred  and  thirty.  A 
right  arm  is  now  stretched  out,  to  the  south  of  the 
house,  in  which  we  lived  at  that  time,  in  all  respects 
like  the  left,  to  the  north,  as  you  saw  it.  Numbers 
are  not  likely  to  fail  us,  and,  if  we  only  take  care  not 
to  be  wanting  to  our  numbers,  all  will  be  well.  I  am 
not  altogether  satisfied  with   our  success,  because  I   do 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


brought  into  training!     How  our  hopes     nished To   us,   at   Saybrook,    in 

flew  before  us,  making  such  a  foot  jour-  Connecticut,    the   ocean   offered    merely 

ney,  sometimes  across  States,  a  pilgrim-  fishing,  but  such  fishing !    A  comfortable 

age  as  to  some  Holy  Land  !  .  .  .  .  We  fishing-smack  was  got  for  us,  by  our  ever- 

went  with  horses  and  wagons, 'ride  and  thoughtful   master;  and  many  were  the 

tie,'   with  intention  of  not  running  down  quaint   and   new   specimens    of    marine 

or  fatiguing  the  weak  ;  but  all  held  stur-  life   that   flopped   and   fluttered   on   our 

dily   on.     Cities  were   visited,    villas    of  deck.     They  seemed  really  a  part  of  the 

friends    admired   and    examined,   rivers  fairyland  we  all  believed  in." 

crossed,  until  at  last  at  the  end  of  the  x  Round  Hill  was  visited  at  this  time, 

journey,    we   would   find    ourselves    en-  nth  August,  1825,  by  Duke    Bernard  of 

camped,   and   look    from    the    hill-side,  Saxe    Weimar,   and   an   account  of  the 

while    enjoying    the     comfortable    meal  school   is  given  in  the  narrative   of  his 

which  the  neighboring  village   had  fur-  travels,  published  at  Weimar  in  1828- 


160  JOSErH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1828. 

not  think  it  rests  on  a  perfect  foundation,  and  yet,  I 
know  not  but  it  is  as  nearly  so  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  will  admit.  I  flatter  myself,  however,  that  I  could 
show  a  model  of  a  perfect  school  for  the  education  of 
fifty  boys. 

Northampton,  March  23,  1828*.  ...  In  the  various 
situations  of  life  through  which  I  have  before  passed,  a 
due  portion  of  enlivening,  or  improving  occupations  has 
been  mixed,  but  I  am  now  on  my  fifth  year  of  an  entire 
devotedness  to  one  object,  and  one  which  affords  little 
or  no  intellectual  gratification,  and  still  less  comfort  to 
the  heart.  There  must  be  a  change  ere  long  or  I  die. 
....  I  had  just  completed  a  pleasant  arrangement  for 
our  approaching  holidays,  which  was,  to  have  my  head- 
quarters about  six  miles  from  Boston,  during  the  whole 
three  weeks,  at  the  house  of  a  good  lady,  who  agreed 
to  take  care  of  me  and  twelve  or  fourteen  boys.  With 
six  or  eight  of  the  best  of  these  I  intended  to  have 
taken  a  trip  in  the  Steamboat  to  Portland,  and  refreshed 
my  drooping  spirits  with  a  sight  of  the  many  dear 
friends  there,  and  returned  by  land  through  Ports- 
mouth and  Exeter.  But  now  all  this  cheering  hope 
is  swept  away,  by  finding  that  thirty  or  more  remain 
under  my  care  in  the  vacation,  with  all  of  whom  it 
would  be  impossible  to  move,  and  many  of  whom  it 
would  not  do  to  leave  at  home  alone.  This  is  an  evil 
of  such  magnitude  that  I  am  resolved  to  prevent  its 
ever  again  recurring.  I  have  been  a  slave  to  the  school 
for  five  years  in  September,  and  it  will  then  be  time  to 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  42.]         REMEMBRANCE  OF  OLD  FRIENDS.  161 

have  my  freedom The  multiplication  of  schools 

in  our  vicinity  has  not  as  yet  drawn  off  supplies  from 
us.  We  could,  this  moment,  increase  our  number  by 
twenty  or  thirty,  but  I  have  resolutely  opposed  that 
course,  and  now  got  Mr.  B.'s  consent  to  reduce  to  a 
hundred,  as  soon  as  opportunity  offers.  That  number 
can  be  easily  managed,  faithfully  instructed  and  guarded 

from  evil Do  not,  I  beg  you,  come  round- to  the 

new  doctrine  of  exploding  classical  studies.  If  not 
checked  it  will  bring  destruction  to  the  cause  of  sound 
learning  in  our  land.  I  am  persuaded  that  nothing  can 
be  substituted  for  this  kind  of  early  discipline  for  the 
mind,  be  the  destination  in  life  what  it  may 

Northampton,  March  29,  1829.*.  .  .  .  Were  I  among 
old  friends,  to-day,  I  should  really  revel  in  joy.  My 
heart  is  as  tender  as  it  was  at  nineteen  or  twenty,  and  I 
am  sure  I  could  not  trust  myself,  an  half  hour,  alone  with 
a  fair  lady  who  had  a  hand  and  heart  to  dispose  of,  not 
for  the  price  of  my  independence.  It  is  consoling,  how- 
ever, as  age  is  stripping  us  of  our  verdure,  now  and 
then  to  discover  that  there  is  no  sere  of  the  heart.  I 
know  not  when  I  have  felt  happier  than  since  I  sat 
down  to  write  to  you,  and  found,  on  inquiring  of  myself, 
that  there  is  not  a  friend  of  my  earlier  days  in  whom 
I  have  lost  my  interest.  Ere  long  I  will  prove  how  far 
this  feeling  is  reciprocated,  by  coming  within  the  sphere 
of  their  attraction  and  making  one  of  their  system. 
Just  for  the  present,  however,  there  is  a  fine  prospect 
before  me,  a  vacation  which  leaves  forty-five  boys  on  my 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor. 


162  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1829. 

hands  to  look  after.  My  delightful  dreams  of  a  week  or 
two  of  real  comfort,  in  quiet,  among  old  friends,  have 
vanished,  so  far  as  regards  these  holidays.  If  I  can  get 
a  sight  of  Boston  at  all  in  April,  it  must  be  with  as  trou- 
blesome   an    appendage    in    my    train    as    accompanies 

General   Jackson I  am  going  to  New  York  on 

Wednesday,  to  see  a  troop  safe  on  their  way  toward 
home,  to  return  to  Northampton  on  Saturday.  As  soon 
as  the  travelling  is  decent  I  expect  to  move  Bostonward, 
but  not  for  pleasure,  I  confess,  nothing  like  the  delec- 
table visit  I  had  with  you  at  Christmas. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

1829.  —  Act  of  Incorporation  for  Round  Hill.  —  Mr.  Cogswell  be- 
comes Sole  Head  of  the  School.  —  Washington  in  1830.  —  Savannah. 
—  Death  of  Miss  Elizabeth  Cogswell. 

1VTORTHAMPTON,  December  16,  1829.*  ....  Last 
winter  we  obtained  an  act  of  incorporation  for  the 
Round  Hill  Institution,  uncertain  what  use  we  might 
make  of  it.1  During  the  summer  my  mind  has  been 
much  occupied  on  the  subject,  and  the  result  of  these 
deliberations  is  as  follows :  The  place  and  all  its  append- 
ages is  too  well  adapted  to  a  school,  to  think  of  divert- 
ing it  from  its  present  use.  It  is  also  too  heavy  a  bur- 
den to  be  borne  by  two  poor  individuals.  I  am  going, 
therefore,  to  make  an  effort  to  interest  the  public  in  the 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 

1  In  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  ap-  written  to  Mr.  Ticknor :  "  We  have  in- 
proved  by  the  Governor  of  Massachu-  creased  our  capital  investment  here  cer- 
setts,  Feb.  18,  1829,  permission  is  given  tainly  not  less  than  $14,000  ....  beside 
to  hold  real  estate  up  to  $60,000,  and  which  I  have  invested  $3,000  in  a  farm- 
personal  to  the  same  amount.  In  their  house  and  land  near  Round  Hill,  which 
proposals,  the  Directors  of  the  School  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the  success 
offer  to  take  a  lease  for  five  years,  con-  of  our  operations."  Now  in  1829  he 
tinuing  the  school  during  that  time  with  writes  (Dec  15),  "  I  have  lost  during 
certain  privileges  to  stockholders,  and  to  the  year  by  bad  debts  $2,000." 
repurchase  the  shares  of  such  stockhold-  December  21,  1829,  he  says,  "  I  must 
ers  as  may  not  wish  to  retain  them  at  the  wait  here  till  after  the  6th  [Jan.]  as  our 
end  of  the  five  years,  at  a  certain  rate  of  Round  Hill  Corporation  organizes  on 
deduction.  that  day." 

In  December,  1826,  Mr.  Cogswell  had 


1 64  JOSEPH  GKEEN  COGSWELL.  [1830. 

property,  and,  at  the  same  time  give  them  a  guaranty  of 
my  continued  efforts  for  its  prosperity  and  usefulness, 
and  lay  the  foundation  for  giving  it  perpetuity.  The 
cost  of  the  whole  Round  Hill  property  is  little  if  any, 
short  of  $50,000;  which  we  now  value  at  $34,000.  We 
propose  to  retain  $16,000  of  the  stock  to  be  created,  and 
to  dispose  of  $18,000  in  shares  of  $100  each.  In  con- 
nection with  the  disposal  of  the  property  it  will  be  pro- 
posed, either  by  Mr.  Bancroft  and  myself  jointly,  or  by 
myself  alone,  to  take  a  lease  of  it  from  the  company  for 
five  years,  at  six  per  cent,  and  to  keep  the  buildings  in 

repair  and  protect  them  by  insurance Should 

the  public  impression  be  that  this  has  thus  far  been 
a   profitable    undertaking  I    am  prepared  to  undeceive 

them 

You  may  judge  what  portion  of  this  remains  to  me 
when  I  say  that  the  estimated  allowance  for  the  Board, 
etc.,  of  five  twelfths  of  the  proceeds,  leaves  me  a  loser  of 
$5,000  for  the  six  years,  to  say  nothing  of  the  furniture, 
which  is  entirely  mine,  and  which  cost  in  all  above 
$7,000.  I  communicate  these  facts  to  you,  but  do  not 
wish  to  have  you  speak  of  them  at  present 

Northampton,  March  13,  1830.*  My  dear  T., —  I 
should  have  written  to  you  long  since,  and  made  my  re- 
port on  the  state  of  the  Round  Hill  nation,  in  which  you 
have  so  kindly  taken  an  interest,  but  for  the  uncertainty  in 
which  things  were.  Now  all  is  settled,  and  you  will  find 
herein  a  most  full  explanation  of  affairs,  and  such  an  one, 
as,  I  hope,  will  meet  your  approbation.     Henceforth  the 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


Age  43]  NEW  ARRANGEMENTS.  1 65 

whole  concern  is  transferred  to  me ; 1  Mr.  Bancroft  re- 
linquishes to  me  all  the  benefits  of  the  sale  to  the  Cor- 
poration, as  far  as  it  goes,  and  I  on  my  part  engage  to 
pay  him  for  his  nine-twentieths  of  the  property  at  the 
same  rate,  that  is  $9,000,  being  $5,000  in  addition  to  the 
mortgage.  This  sum  is  to  be  paid  in  ten  half  yearly 
payments  and  he  takes  fifty  shares  of  the  stock  as  his 
security,  this  portion  of  the  property,  being  one  fourth, 
therefore,  gradually  reverts  to  me.  The  remaining  three- 
fourths  I  shall  dispose  of,  if  I  can,  and  the  prospect  of 
this  is  very  fair,  more  than  ninety  being  already  taken. 
....  This  arrangement  is  the  result  of  no  difference 
between  Mr.  Bancroft  and  myself.  It  was  brought  about 
in  the  most  perfectly  harmonious  manner,  and,  as  I  be- 
lieve, with  the  kindest  feelings  on  both  sides.  He  does 
not  wish  to  have  the  fact  of  his  relinquishment  of  pecu- 
niary interest  in  the  school,  made  known  at  present ;  but 
that  of  his  giving  up  a  share  in  its  general  superintend- 
ence is  necessarily  communicated  to  those  interested. 
You  will  have  the  goodness  not  to  speak  of  the  first 
point,  which  has  not  yet  been  made  known  to  any  one 
but  Mr.  J.  D wight,  and  from  him,  I  believe,  comes  the 
desire  of  keeping  it  within  ourselves.  Mr.  B.  gives  me 
until  October  to  carry  this  arrangement  into  effect,  and 
he  retains  his  connection  with  me,  as  an  instructor,  dur- 

1  He  writes  to  Mr.  Ward  on  this  sub-  formed,   to  make   a   proposition  to  Mr. 

ject:  "  Having  become  sole  Potentate  of  Bancroft,  to    this   effect,  in   case   a   suf- 

the  Empire  of  Round  Hill,  I  cannot  neg-  ficient  portion   of  the   stock   should  be 

lect  to  make  the  event  known  to  a  friend,  taken  to  justify  such  a  responsibility  on 

who  has  ever  taken  such  a  warm  interest  my  part.     This  has  been   done,  and   an 

in  my  welfare  and  done  so  much  to  ad-  arrangement  was   at   once  entered  into, 

vance  it.     It  was  my  purpose,  when  the  in  the  most  amicable  manner  possible." 
project  of  a  Joint  Stock  Company  was 


1 66  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1830. 

ing  the  summer,  for  which,  and  for  giving  up  his  interest 
in  the  school,  he  receives  $1,000.  Should  no  occupa- 
tion be  found  for  him,  afterwards,  he  remains  at  $1,600 
per  annum,  liberty  being  given  to  me  to  terminate  the 
connection  when  I  please  on  a  notice  of  six  months. 

Northampton,  March  13,  1830.*  My  dear  Lady, — 
I  have  seen  grand  sights  since  I  parted  from  you.  I 
have  been  at  Washington,  you  must  know,  and  shaken 
hands  with  his  Majesty,  and  basked  in  the  smiles  of 
court  favor.  General  Duff's  splendid  equipage  was  seen 
waiting  at  my  door  more  than  once,  the  heir  apparent 
never  passed  me  without  the  most  familiar  nod.  I  had  the 
right  hand  of  the  Vice-President  at  dinner,  and  almost 
the  honor  of  giving  my  arm  to  Mrs.  Eaton  at  the  draw- 
ing room I   had  a  most   capital  time  there,  and 

should  surely  have  quite  forgotten  Round  Hill  had  I  re- 
mained a  week  or  two  longer 

I  find  it  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  get  the  spirit  of  roving, 
one  cannot  feel  easy  without  indulging  it.  As  I  had  a  de- 
lightful visit  in  Boston  in  January,  and  another  in  Wash- 
ington in  February,  I  have  persuaded  myself  I  must 
spend  our  spring  holidays  in  Charleston  and  Savannah, 
—  but  it  is  my  last  chance.  I  have  shipped  on  a  new 
cruise  of  five  years,  and  I  shall  be  pretty  certain  of  not 
getting  to  the  south  and  west  of  Boston  Light  until  it  is 
over.  In  my  letter  to  your  husband  you  will  find  a  full 
explanation  of  all  things  relative  to  my  official  concerns, 
and,  should  you  be  disposed  to  heave  a  sigh  of  commis- 
eration, when  you  find  what  I  have  undertaken,  you  will 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Ace  43-]  SAVANNAH  IN  SPRING.  1 67 

suppress  it  when  I  tell  you,  I  have  never  felt  younger, 
more  zealous,  higher  hopes  or  greater  confidence  of  suc- 
cess than  I  now  do  in  the  view  of  the  prospect  before 
me.  I  have  had  a  burden  upon  me  which  weighed  me 
down  to  earth.  I  am  now  free,  and  shall  soar  on  my 
own  wings. 

Savannah,  April  18,  1830.1  *.  .  .  .  My  dear  T.,  —  I  can 
hardly  persuade  myself  that  I  am  not  in  a  strange  land, 
—  climate,  nature,  man,  all  are  different  here  from  our 
own  rugged  New  England.  It  is,  however,  a  delightful 
abode  just  now.  We  have  the  temperature  of  our 
finest  June  days  ;  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom  is  swell- 
ing, bursting,  blooming,  and,  still,  there  is  none  of  the 
debilitating  influence  of  our  springs.  It  astonishes 
me  to  see  such  luxuriant  vegetation,  in  these  arid  sands 
which  surround  the  city  on  every  side.  There  must  be, 
in  the  soil,  something  which  the  eye  cannot  detect,  for 
as  to  that,  it  seems  altogether  barren.  But  the  rich 
growth  of  cotton,  corn,  and  other  crops  proves  that  it 
must  be  quite  the  reverse.  Then  too,  the  Myrtles, 
Lagustodemias,  Cape  Jessamines,  Magnolias,  and  many 
other  plants,  which,  with  us,  are  but  parlor  or  green- 
house ornaments,  are  here  trees  and,  some  of  them, 
of  no  ordinary  size 

These  are  the  agremens  of  this  portion  of  our  coun- 
try, and  it  is  undoubtedly  the  season  in  which  they 
stand  forth  in  boldest  relief.  On  the  other  hand  the 
moral   deformities  are  no  less  striking,  most  of  which 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
1  This    trip  was   made,  chiefly,  to  collect  debts. 


1 68  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  I1830. 

appear  to  me  to  result  from  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave.  I  see  nothing  of  inhumanity,  or  despotism,  no 
violence  offered  to  life  or  limb,  no  insufficient  clothing, 
shelter  or  food.  Still  the  mere  animal  existence  of  the 
negro  is  all  that  is  regarded,  and  the  only  consideration 
in  which  he  is  held,  is  that  of  a  valuable,  working  beast. 
A  spirit  of  the  most  deadly  hostility  to  the  North  now 
prevails,  throughout  the  whole  southern  country,  which 
is  evidently  less  owing  to  the  Tariff  and  the  American 
system,  than  to  the  apprehensions  entertained  of  a  proj- 
ect to  deprive  them  of  their  slaves,  and,  I  confess,  that, 
if  interest  alone  may  be  suffered  to  govern,  I  should 
almost  justify  them  in  their  feelings.  Notwithstanding 
the  outcry  against-  Northern  men  and  Northern  meas- 
ures, the  most  cordial  hospitality  is  shown  to  every 
visitor  from  our  part  of  the  country.  They  rejoice, 
they  say,  to  see  them  here,  because  they  think  their 
prejudices  are  most  effectually  cured  by  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  for  themselves.  I  have  been  in  this  place 
eight  days,  and  been  engaged  in  one  continued  round 
of  parties.  Nowhere  have  I  ever  found  a  more  hospi- 
table reception. 

Northampton,  April  2d,  1831*  My  dear  Lady, — 
After  repeated  vexations  and  delays  I  have,  at  length, 
ordered  the  signal  to  be  made,  for  sailing  on  Thursday 
morning,  but,  having  a  slant  wind,  I  cannot  direct  my 
course  straight  for  Boston.  A  youth  is  to  be  deposited 
in  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  and,  being  one  for  whom 
I  have  great  regard,  I  must  see  him  safe  in  the  hands 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  44-]  DESIRE   EOR  SOCIETY.  1 69 

of  his  new  guardians.1  This  will  be  a  work  of  a  few 
hours,  and,  as  soon  as  it  is  dispatched,  I  shall  face  right 
about  for  Boston. 

Sweet  Spring  is  just  coming  forth  in  her  loveliest 
attire.  Round  Hill  and  all  our  hills  are  as  green  as  the 
Emerald  Isle,  the  apricot  and  other  early  trees  are  in 
full  bloom,  the  birds  carol  gayly,  the  air  is  soft,  and  all 
around  is  full  of  returning  vigor  and  life.  But  it  is 
just  as  I  told  you  it  would  be.  My  Boston  visit  and 
peep  at  the  world  again,  have  either  so  depraved,  or 
improved  my  taste,  that  I  am  not  an  hundredth  part 
so  happy  amid  this  fair  scene,  as  I  was  there.  And  yet 
I  have  not  tasted  enough  of  the  intoxicating  draught. 
I  must  try  the  tempter  at  least  one  week  more,  and 
then  I  know  not  with  what  heart,  or  if  with  any  heart 
at  all,  I  shall  return  to  my  exile.  And  do  but  think 
how  I  have  suppressed  every  natural  affection  for  al- 
most seven  years,  and  lived,  as  it  were,  in  another 
planet,  denying  myself  the  pleasure  of  an  hour's  social 
intercourse  with  any  one  of  my  kind,  and  deeming  it 
but  little  better  than  wicked  to  steal  time  enough,  from 
the  round  of  daily  duties,  to  send  a  friend  a  few  words 
of  remembrance.  It  shall  not  be  thus  henceforth.  I 
will  no  longer  be  thought  to  have  a  heart  of  stone. 

Northampton,  May  15,  1831.*.  .  .  .  I  wonder  if  you 
have  read  "  Passages  from  the  Diary  of  a  Physician." 
If  you  have,  tell  me  if  anything  ever  touched  your 
heart  more   than   the   tale   "  Consumption."     I   read   it 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
1  See  Appendix  B.  for  a  list  of  Round  Hill  pupils,  published  soon  after  this  time. 


170  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [di- 

late on  Friday  evening,  and  wept  floods  of  tears  over 
it.  Not  an  incident  is  found  in  it  which  could  not  be 
furnished  from  many  tales  of  real  life,  not  one  which 
shows  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  writer  to  heighten 
emotions,  and  yet  it  really  agonized  me  with  grief.  The 
passage  beginning  "  O  great  God  what  will  become 
of  me,"  so  convulsed  me  that  I  have  not  yet  recovered 
from  its  effect.  There  is,  however,  much  in  some  of 
the  stories  which  I  neither  like  nor  approve,  but  great 
power  is  displayed  in  all. 

Round  Hill,  October  20  [1831].*.  ...  I  had  always 
heard  a  great  deal  of  Tucker's  "  Light  of  Nature,"  par- 
ticularly from  Dr.  Kirkland,  but  I  never  read  much  in 
it,  until  recently.  I  am  altogether  disappointed.  He 
is  far  from  having  the  originality  and  power  of  mind 
which  I  had  supposed.  English  literature  can  boast 
of  many  a  writer  of  his  class,  in  my  opinion  far  superior 
to  him.  To  say  nothing  of  those  of  a  century  or  more 
gone  by,  I  would  infinitely  prefer  to  hold  communion 
with  Coleridge's  mind,  as  displayed  in  his  prose  com- 
positions, than  with  Tucker. 

Give  me  ten  days'  notice  of  your  intended  rout,  and 
I  will  positively  present  myself  at  it.  I  must  have  a 
few  frolics  this  winter,  or  I  shall  not  outlive  the  inroads 
of  cold,  solitude,  and  ennui  ;  but,  if  by  any  contrivance, 
I  can  steal  away,  and  spend  a  week  or  so  under  your 
most  hospitable  roof,  I  shall  leave  out  again  next  Spring, 
and  flourish  as  fresh  and  green  as  ever. 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  45]  ADMIRATION  OF  GIBBON.  171 

Round  Hill,  November  6,  1831.*  .  .  .  .  Anticipating 
a  dreary  and  cheerless  winter  I  resolved  to  interest  my- 
self in  a  subject  of  pursuit,  which  would  help  to  give 
wings  to  time,  and  have  selected  the  "  History  of  the 
Kaptschak  or  Kiptschak  Tartars,  or  Tartars  of  the 
Golden  Horde,"  who  were  led  under  the  guidance  of 
the  descendants  of  Genghis  Khan  into  Eastern  Europe, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  14th  century,  and  laid  waste 
Hungary,  Poland,  and  Southern  Russia,  and  made  their 
princes  tributary.  If  Mr.  Ticknor  has  anything  which 
treats  of  these  gentry,  especially  the  authorities  cited 
in  the  65th  chapter  of  Gibbon,  or  knows  where  they  are 
to  be  had,  I  wish  he  would  do  me  the  favor  to  make 
them  accessible  to  me.  I  very  much  fear  that  there 
are  no  books  in  the  country  which  will  satisfy  my  curi- 
osity, and  that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  make  a  journey 
expressly  to  the  banks  of  the  Wolga  and  the  Dnieper. 
I  am  surprised  that  no  distinct  history  of  their  incur- 
sions has  been  written ;  at  least  I  can  find  none. 

I  never  have  occasion  to  turn  to  Gibbon  without 
wishing  for  time  to  sit  down,  and  go  through  his  whole 
history  uninterruptedly.  I  delight  in  it  above  every 
book,  or  history  in  the  whole  compass  of  modern  liter- 
ature. He  says  it  cost  him  twenty  years  labor  and 
study  to  write  it,  and  it  seems  to  me  well  worth  one 
year  of  any  person's  life  to  give  it  a  faithful  and  thor- 
ough reading. 

Round  Hill,  December  21,  1831.*  .  .  .  .  What  shad- 
ows indeed,  we  are,  my  dear  friend,  —  how  frail  is  the 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor  Boston. 


I72  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1831. 

tenure  by  which  we  hold  life  and  its  endearments.  Lit- 
tle did  I  imagine,  when  I  was  sympathizing  with  you 
in  the  repeated  afflictions  you  were  called  upon  to  suf- 
fer that  I  should  so  soon  have  occasion  to  ask  your 
sympathies  for  myself.  God  has  taken  from  me  my 
only  sister  and  my  only  near  relative,  and  never  was 
there  a  kinder,  more  disinterested,  and  more  devoted 
attachment  than  that  which  she  has  ever  manifested 
to  me.  For  years  I  am  sure  she  has  not  had  a  wish 
which  was  not  connected  with  my  happiness  and  pros- 
perity  This  bereavement  does   indeed  leave  me 

a  solitary  being  upon  earth,  but  it  will  not  diminish 
my  attachment  to  those  who  have  kindly  extended  to 
me  their  friendship. 

Northampton,  March  4,  1832.*.  .  .  .  This  is  a  morn- 
ing, my  dear  lady,  that  gives  one  a  sensation  of  some- 
thing like  a  new  existence,  it  excites  in  me  an  almost 
uncontrollable  desire  to  start  off  on  some  grand  enter- 
prise. I  could  lead  on  in  some  gallant  feat  of  chivalry, 
or  heroic  daring,  worthy  of  the  character  of  a  crusader. 
I  know  not  how  it  is  with  others,  but,  for  myself,  I  can 
hardly  find  enough  of  sober  reason  in  me,  when  such 
a  bright  and  glorious  sun  shines  forth,  and  brings  with 
it  such  a  genial  warmth  and  softened  air,  to  keep  down 
the  ebullition  of  my  spirits 

My  mind  has  been  dwelling  very  much,  of  late,  on 
the  peculiarities  of  my  situation,  and  the  unconnected 
state  in  which  I  stand  to  the  race  of  mankind.  No 
human  being  lives  that  has  a  natural  claim  upon  me, 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  45.]  B  UL  WER.  I  73 

for  the  common  offices  of  life,  and  no  human  being 
lives  upon  whom  I  have  a  natural  claim  for  any  such 
act  of  kindness.  If  I  had  fulfilled  every  business  ob- 
ligation, and  had  nothing  of  that  nature  to  make  it  my 
duty  to  struggle  on,  I  should  think  myself  at  liberty 
to  enter  on  the  most  daring  enterprise  that  my  imagina- 
tion could  contrive.  But,  however  much  I  may  wish 
for  something  stirring,  I   must  rest  satisfied  with   tame 

toil  ;  this  is  no  age  for  exploits 

For  want  of  better  amusement  I  have  been  reading 
that  infamous  tale  of  Bulwer's,  called  "  Eugene  Aram." 
Nothing  could  be  more  repulsive  than  the  character 
he  gives  his  hero,  and  still  he  makes  the  rascal  exert 
a  fascinating  influence  over  a  lovely  girl.  It  is  a  mis- 
erably managed  story,  but  there  are  individual  sketches, 
of  passions  and  character,  in  it  of  great  power.  All 
that  I  have  read  of  Bulwer  is  much  in  this  way.  No 
dramatic  effect,  but  splendid  in  occasional  passages,  and 
often  very  original  and  striking  in  his  thoughts.  It  is 
a  rare  thing  now  to  find  a  new  book  of  any  kind  worth 
reading.  The  various  libraries,  of  useful,  entertain- 
ing, and  other  sorts  of  knowledge  are  filled  with  pitiful 
trash,  and  the  apology  is  that  they  are  so  written  to  be 
popular,  which  I  take  to  be  a  concession  that  whatever 
is  intended  to  please  the  people  must  be  very  ordinary 
and  very  worthless,  a  solemn  truth  I  have  no  doubt, 
but  I  should  hardly  have  supposed  that  the  worshippers 
of  the  Demus  would  have  acknowledged  it. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

1832-1833.  —  Thoughts  of  giving  up  the  School.  —  Visit  to  Charles- 
ton. —  Decision  to  leave  Round  Hill  and  to  take  charge  of  a  School 
in  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

TVTORTHAMPTON,  July  7,  1832.*  I  have  made 
^  ^  up  my  mind  that  it  is  my  duty,  on  every  con- 
sideration, to  give  up  my  struggles  to  sustain  the 
Round  Hill  School,  and  shall  therefore  bring  it  to  a 
close  next  spring.1  I  would  do  it  sooner,  but  I  cannot 
settle  my  affairs  and  dispose  of  my  property  here  in  less 
time.  My  health  is  suffering  very  severely,  and  I  am  de- 
riving no  pecuniary  benefit  from  the  most  exhausting 
labors.  I  am  perfectly  sure  the  school  was  never  more 
efficient  in  its  instructions,  or  salutary  in  its  influence  on 
character  and  morals,  but  various  circumstances  have  con- 
spired to  diminish  its  numbers,  and  therefore  rendered 
its    receipts  insufficient  to  defray  its  expenses.     It  has 

*  To  Samuel  Ward,  New  York. 

1  On  this  subject  he  wrote  to  Mr.  up  here  in  the  spring.  My  health  is 
Ticknor  (June  10),  laying  before  him  a  gradually  undermining,  with  the  sort  of 
full  statement  of  his  affairs,  and  saying  cheerless  labor  which  I  am  daily  worry- 
in  conclusion,  "  You  see,  my  dear  T.  how  ing  through  here,  and  I  am  deprived  of 
I  have  made  my  nine  years'  labor  worse  the  usual  comforts  of  life,  I  mean  so- 
than  useless  to  me,  by  a  loss  of  at  least  ciety  and  friends,  and  I  get  nothing  for 
$20,000  on  my  investments  in  real  estate,  my  labor.  My  present  idea  is  to  resume 
I  cannot  charge  myself  with  a  single  my  profession,  and  probably  somewhere 
extravagance  for  my  own  individual  use."  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  either  Florida, 
To  Mr.  Daveis  he  said,  June  25,  "  I  Alabama,  Mississippi,  or  Louisiana." 
have  almost,  or  quite  concluded  to  give 


Age 45]  THOUGHTS  OF  CHANGE.  1 75 

been  sustained  to  the  present  moment  with  a  full  pro- 
portion of  instructors.  Indeed,  the  last  year  it  has  been 
greater  than  at  any  previous  time. 

Northampton,  July  7,  1832.*  ....  I  feel  no  other  so- 
licitude about  the  future,  than  that  which  arises  from  the 
thought  of  being  removed,  far  and  forever,  from  the  home 
of  my  friends,  home  of  my  own  I  never  had,  not  a  being 
on  earth  is  dependent  upon  me,  not  one  whose  happiness 
rests  on  my  success.  I  have  lost  none  of  my  love  for 
labor,  and  nothing  of  my  activity  either  of  mind  or  body. 
I  shall  go  forth,  therefore,  to  the  rude  regions  of  the 
South,  anticipating  a  life  of  toil,  with  the  same  spirit  of 
enterprise  and  exertion  that  I  had  twenty  years  ago,  and 
with  the  advantage  of  many  years  of  varied  experience. 
If  I  go  from  New  England  with  every  pecuniary  obliga- 
tion discharged,  I  shall  rejoice  in  the  result  of  my  labors 
at  Round  Hill  ;  it  will  prove,  what  I  have  ever  avowed, 
that  I  had  no  reference  to  money  in  the  undertaking,  and 
that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  exert  himself  for  some 
object  beside  that. 

Northampton,  September  16,  1832.*  ....  I  wanted 
exceedingly  to  come  and  share  the  delights  of  your  sum- 
mer retreat  with  you,  but  having  no  one  to  tug  at  the  oar 
when  I  drop  it,  I  could  not  leave  the  bench.  As  it  re- 
spects myself,  if  it  were  not  irreverential,  I  might  de- 
scribe my  condition  the  past  summer,  in  the  language  ot 
St.  Paul,  for  I  have  been  truly  "  troubled  on  every  side, 
but  not  distressed  ;  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair."  Find- 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


I76  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [183* 

ing  how  much  I  can  bear  and  how  well  I  can  bear  up, 
has  quite  increased  my  respect  for  myself,  and  I  feel  now 
as  if  nothing  but  death  could  break  me  down.  The 
consciousness  of  better  health,  and  the  energy  which 
springs  from  good  resolution  have  induced  me  to  change 
the  purpose  which  I  made  known  to  you  in  my  last,  and 
decide  not  to  start  from  my  orbit,  but  to  follow  it  down 
to  the  horizon.  The  truth  is,  the  cause  of  sound  educa- 
tion is  losing  ground ;  every  institution  in  this  neigh- 
borhood which  purported  to  follow  in  our  track  has 
either  sunk  in  the  west,  or  been  converted  into  some 
miserable  manual  labor  affair.     This  rouses  my  pride, 

and  I  am  resolved  upon  holding  out  to  the  last I 

am  going,  as  it  were,  to  start  anew ;  my  nine  years'  ex- 
perience ought  to  have  taught  me  some  practical  notions, 
and  I  mean  to  proceed  according  to  my  own  convictions 
of  right,  regardless  of  every  other  consideration. 

Northampton,  Thursday,  November  29,  [1832.]* 
Like  the  Hallowell  Irishman,  who,  on  recovery  from 
sickness  sent  up  his  note  of  thanks  to  God,  and  Dr. 
Vaughan,  I  feel  moved,  on  this  day  of  general  Thanks- 
giving, to  express  my  gratitude  as  well  to  my  friends  on 

earth,  as  to  my  Father  in   Heaven I   have  been 

silent  ever  since  I  left  Boston,  because  I  was  unwilling 
to  write  until  I  could  write  something  more  definite  re- 
specting my  plans  of  future  operation 

It  has  appeared  to  me  that  the  prospect  has  been 
brightening  here  for  some  weeks  past ;  the  citizens  of 
Northampton  interested  in  the  School  have  drawn  up  a 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age46.]  ADDRESS    TO  STOCKHOLDERS.  IT 7 

statement  which  they  intend  to  circulate  through  the 
medium  of  the  newspapers ;  this  is  signed  by  Lewis 
Strong,  J.  C.  Bates,  C.  A.  Dewey,  T.  Napier,  Judge 
Hinckley,  Judge  Lyman,  and  E.  Hunt,  —  the  first  four 
Orthodox,  and  the  others  Unitarian,  and  is,  I  believe,  the 
first  object  in  which  they  have  united  for  years.  I  will 
send  you  a  copy  of  this  document  as  soon  as  it  is 
printed. 

When  I  was  at  New  York1  Mr.  Samuel  Ward  (Prime, 
Ward)  said  much  to  me  against  going  to  Savannah,2  and 
voluntarily  proposed  to  relinquish  his  stock  in  the  school 
to  me,  and  at  the  same  time,  asked  me  if  I  had  any  ob- 
jection to  his  presenting  the  subject  to  the  other  stock- 
holders, and  having  none,  he  wrote  the  following,  ad- 
dressed to  me,  to  be  circulated  among  them:  — 

"Dear  Sir, —  Desiring  to  release  you  from  the  incumbrance  ex- 
isting on  your  Round  Hill  property,  in  order  that  your  exertions  in 
the  cause  of  education,  may  —  as  they  should  —  be  freed  from  any 
embarrassment,  arising  from  pecuniary  concerns, — we,  the  under- 
signed, do  hereby  agree  and  engage  to  reconvey  to  you  or  to  your  as- 
signs, all  our  right,  title,  interest  in  and  claim  to,  any  stock,  or  shares 
of  stock,  right,  or  property  in  said  establishment,  provided  that  all 
the  shareholders  unite  in  the  release.  And  we  agree  to  do  so  cheer- 
fully, believing  that  we  subserve  the  public  interest  as  well  as  your 
own.  Your  friend,"  etc. 

It  has  not  been  signed  by  any  others  as  yet,  but  Mr. 
Ward  and  Augustus  Thorndike  —  the  latter  has  applied 
to  his  brothers  Israel  and  Charles,  but  I  do  not  know 
with  what  result ;  if  successful  it  will  then  be  sent  to  the 

1  In  October.  per  annum  for   some  situation   not  de- 

1  Where  he  had  been  offered  $2,500    scribed  in  his  letters. 
23 


178  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1832. 

stockholders  generally  ;  they  holding  the  largest  interest, 
it  seemed  to  me  best  to  get  their  names  first.1 

The  release  would  make  no  difference  with  me,  pe- 
cuniarily. I  should  return  to  every  individual  all  that  I 
received,  if  my  future  exertions  should  enable  me  to 
do  it,  but  it  would  make  a  great  difference  in  the  spirit 
with  which  I  should  labor  here,  as  it  would  afford  me 
such  a  convincing  proof  of  the  approbation  and  en- 
couragement of  many  valuable  men 

For  the  last  six  months  I  have  had  but  one  all  ab- 
sorbing thought,  not  a  single  moment  of  peace,  by  day 
or  night,  has  been  left  to  me,  not  one  in  which  I  would 
not  gladly  have  bound  myself  in  servitude  for  life,  or 
laid  my  head  on  the  block,  for  a  sufficiency  to  die  with 
a  balanced  account  with  every  one,  and  that  sum  was 
not  more  than  one  or  two  years  of  unshackled  exertions 
would  enable  me  to  earn  in  various  ways. 

Northampton,  December  9,  1832*  ....  The  first 
approach  of  winter  was  unusually  dreadful  to  me  ;  for 
weeks  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  the  least  exertion 
beyond  those  of  absolute  necessity ;  I  had  no  relief  but 
in  the  obliviousness  of  sleep  ;  I  grew  more  rational, 
however,  during  some  of  those  balmy  days  of  Novem- 
ber, and  summoned  resolution  enough  to  read  a  little. 
You  will   laugh  at  my  choice,  when  I  tell  you   I  broke 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  He  says  to  Mr.  Ward,  Jan.  26, 1S33  :  out  a  word  of  objection,  and  some  with 

"  The  plan  which  you  had  the  kindness  words  of  kindness  which  I  value  much 

to  start  for  me,  has  thus  far  succeeded  more  than  the   amount  of  property  re- 

wonderfully  well.     Every  shareholder  to  leased." 
whom  I  have  applied,  has  released  with- 


age46.]  new  efforts.  179 

the  spell  by  the  "  Tales  of  Glauber  Spa,"  but  the  truth 

is  I  was  just  weak  enough  for  such  a  dose After 

taking  these  I  settled  my  stomach  by  reading  Chalmers 
on  "  Political  Economy,"  and,  as  the  book  is  not  exactly 
one  which  you  would  be  likely  to  select  for  amusement 
or  instruction,  I  beg  you  to  read  the  chapter  on  Primo- 
geniture, on  my  account ;  it  contains  the  very  quin- 
tessence of  sound  principles,  on  the  subject  of  ranks  in 
society.  This  brought  me  into  a  well  ordered  frame, 
and  I  have  since  occupied  my  leisure  moments  with 
sober  history,  such  as  the  new  volumes  of  Lardner's 
"  Cyclopaedia  "  on  Spain  and  Portugal,  Sismondi's  Con- 
densation of  his  "  Italian  Republics,"  and  the  subject  of 
the  discoveries  in  Central  Africa,  by  the  aid  of  Lander 
Denham,  and  Clapperton. 

Northampton,  December  10,  1832.*  My  dear  T 

At  present  scarce  a  doubt  remains  on  my  mind  that 
I  shall  continue  here  and  start  anew  in  the  Spring,  I 
hope,  under  better  auspices  than  ever.  My  plan  will  be 
to  divide  the  year  into  two  parts  and  take  a  vacation 
of  four  weeks  from  each,  the  month  of  May  and  the 
month  of  November;  to  reduce  the  charge  to  $250  per 
annum,  and  never  to  receive  a  pupil  over  twelve  years 

of  age I   know  the  intellectual  pleasure  is  less 

with  small  boys,  but  the  moral  is  so  much  greater  as 
to  be  more  than  a  compensation ;  besides,  it  is  idle  to 
think  of  educating  unless  the  beginning  is  made  before 
twelve  ;  as  to  mere  instruction,  it  is  another  thing,  a  per- 
son may  begin  to  cultivate  his  mind  at  any  age.     I  hope 

*  To  Q.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


180  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1832. 

nearly  ten  years'  experience  in  the  business  of  education 
will  not  be  lost  upon  me,  and  certain  it  is,  that  I  have 
learnt  to  bear  and  forbear,  beyond  what  I  had  ever  sup- 
posed my  natural  temperament  would  allow.  I  am 
willing  once  more  to  try  what  I  can  do  to  aid  in  arrest- 
ing the  rapid  progress  of  our  youth  to  lawless  indul- 
gence, indeed  I  am  so  anxious  to  do  it  that  nothing 
short  of  a  higher  obligation  to  employ  my  time  for  the 
greatest  advantage   of  those   to   whom    I    am   indebted 

shall  change  my  resolution 

I  am  satisfied  that  the  pupils  here,  have  more  instruc- 
tion than  the  average  time  given  by  a  private  tutor  and 
all  the  advantages  of  a  most  thorough  examination  at 
every  exercise,  with  the  encouraging  influence  of  com- 
panions in  labor.  I  have  this  winter  most  rigidly  en- 
forced the  practice  of  making  up  unprepared  and 
imperfect  exercises,  no  one  has  escaped.  To  do  this 
I  spend  all  the  day  from  half  past  6  a.  m.  to  9  p.  m.  in 
the  school-room,  and  detain  delinquents  at  the  end  of 
every  school  division  of  the  day 

Northampton,  December  31,  1832*.  ...  I  have  been 
reading  lately  Spurzheim's  book  on  "  Education,"  which 
I  do  not  like  at  all,  however  profound  he  may  be  in  his 
knowledge  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  of 
grown  man,  he  seems  to  me  to  know  little  of  the  pro- 
cess by  which  knowledge  is  acquired  or  morals  formed 
in  youth.  His  system  has  the  faults  of  all  systems : 
it  supposes  a  human  being  to  possess  a  nature  of  one 
kind,  and  makes  no  allowance  for  the   combination  of 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age46.]  CHARLESTON.  181 

mind  and  matter,  a  combination  which  modifies  the 
mode  of  communicating  truths  of  every  kind,  accord- 
ing as  the  one  or  the  other  principle  predominates. 
Nothing,  in  my  view,  can  be  more  ridiculous  than  the 
constant  clamor  about  words,  words  without  ideas,  as 
if  the  mind  of  a  child  could  not  acquire  facts,  until 
it  could  fully  comprehend  principles  —  what  will  be- 
come of  all  the  mathematical  reasoning  about  infinite 
quantities,  if  a  perfect  comprehension  of  all  the  terms 
made  use  of,  be  made  a  prerequisite.  But  I  do  not 
intend  to  condemn  all  that  is  in  the  book,  there  are 
many  very  acute  observations  on  man,  and  many  very 
sound  principles  of  morals  found  in  it. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  April  24,  1833.*1  ....  I  reached 
here  yesterday  morning  after  an  overland  journey  of 
nine  days,  from  New  York,  attended  with  more  perils 
than  ordinarily  await  the  circumnavigator  of  the  globe. 
We  were  overturned  and  narrowly  escaped  being  killed 
on  the  railroad  from  Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  we  broke 
down  between  Richmond  and  Raleigh,  and  our  coach 
was  filled  with  the  floods  of  the  Pedee  and  Santee  in 
attempting  to  ford  the  inundated  causeways  connected 

with  these  streams From  Raleigh  onward  to  this 

place  it  was  like  riding  through  one  continued  flower 
garden,  but  there   is   nothing  to  please  the  eye  except 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


1  To   Mr.   Daveis  he  writes  (April  7,  three    offers    now    before    me,    between 

1833),  "I  have   decided  upon  a  tour  to  Philadelphia  and  Savannah,  and  I  want 

the  South,  with  a  view  to  settle  the  ques-  to  judge,  on  the  spot,  of  their  agremens 

tion  of  my  future  residence.     There  are  and  evils. 


1 82  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1S33. 

trees  and  flowers ;  in  all  other  respects  nature  is  tame 
and  desolate,  there  is  no  variety  in  the  surface,  no  cul- 
tivation, and  no  appearance  of  civilization  and  comfort. 

It  is  very  quiet  here  now,  not  a  note  of  nullification 
is  sounded,  and  not  a  murmur  of  discontent,  with  any- 
thing but  Jackson  and  his  tyranny,  is  heard.  I  find, 
however,  that  an  apparently  irreparable  breach  has  been 
made  in  the  harmony  of  social  intercourse ;  neither 
gentlemen  nor  ladies,  of  opposite  sides,  assemble  to- 
gether, on  any  occasion,  but  the  hostility  is  confined  to 
citizens  of  their  own  State,  I  believe,  they  speak  of  New 
England  with  great  kindness,  and,  judging  from  my  own 
case,  they  treat  our  citizens  with  great  cordiality.  My 
acquaintances  now  in  the  city  are  chiefly  among  the 
nullifiers.  General  Hamilton  and  Governor  Hayne  de- 
voted themselves  to  me  yesterday,  showing  me  all  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  war  which  had  been  prepared 
by  them,  in  the  day  of  their  fear 

Still  I  cannot  but  see  that  the  glory  is  departed  from 
South  Carolina ;  the  style  of  living  in  Charleston  is  far 
different  from  that  which  I  saw  here  three  years  ago ; 
not  more  than  half  as  many  carriages  are  kept,  and  very 
little  display  of  any  kind  is  left  to  show  their  wealth. 
From  my  heart,  I  compassionate  them,  because  they 
evinced  a  noble  spirit  in  the  use  of  wealth,  and  because 
they  cannot  persuade  themselves  that  they  may  be  happy 
independent  of  it. 

I  suppose  you  will  conclude,  from  the  manner  in  which 
I  speak  of  the  Southrons,  that  my  mind  is  made  up  to 
remain  among  them ;  but  this  is  not  the  case,  my  decis- 
ion will  turn  oh  a  point  altogether  distinct  from  my  own 


Age  47]  PERPLEXITIES.  183 

pleasure  ;  I  shall  do  that,  whatever  it  may  be,  which  will 
give  me  the  most  money  for  three  or  four  years  of  my 

life,  should  so  many  be  left  to  me I  will  be  a  free 

man,  if  I  can  make  myself  so,  by  every  sacrifice  short 
of  principle. 

Chesapeake  Bay,  near  Norfolk,  November  21,  1833.* 
....  For  the  purpose  of  a  speedy  and  final  decision 
of  the  question  about  removing  to  Raleigh,  I  determined 
to  proceed  there  in  company  with  Bishop  Ives,  and  am 

now  thus  far  on  my  way I  confess  I  should  much 

prefer  a  residence  in  Philadelphia  to  one  in  Raleigh,  and 
to  be  in  the  former  in  the  situation  proposed  to  me, 
would  be  more  to  my  mind  than  any  which  the  vocation 
of  instruction  has  to  offer.  I  have  felt  myself  afloat  for 
the  last  three  years,  and  I  shall  have  no  peace  until  I  am 
once  more  engaged  in  some  object  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance and  interest  to  call  forth  all  my  powers 

And  yet  I  do  most  bitterly  lament,  when  I  call  to  mind 
how  many  and  how  great  advantages  for  a  school  of  a 
delightful  kind  are  collected  on  Round  Hill,  which  will 
probably  all  be  lost.  I  do  not  repine  at  ten  years  of  lost 
labor,  nor  at  so  much  wasted  money,  but  I  am  sure  no 
attempt  to  provide  such  a  place  of  early  education  as 
Round  Hill  was,  will  soon  again  be  made,  and  I  grieve 
to  think  of  its  entire  annihilation. 

Northampton,  December  8,  [1833].!  Ten  thousand 
thanks  to  you,  my  dear  Mrs.  Prescott,  for  the  kind  words 
and  wishes  contained  in  your  letter  of  the  6th,  just  re- 
ceived.    It  is  true,  I  fear,  I  must  turn  my  back  on  New 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


184  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [183* 

England  in  the  Spring.  Every  year  I  remain  at  Round 
Hill,  makes  me  poorer  and  more  in  debt,  which  last,  in 
my  view,  is  the  worst  bondage  in  the  world,  except  that 

of  sin My  own   bad   calculations  drew  me  into 

expenditures  for  the  school  beyond  what  my  means  could 
sustain,  and  have  kept  me  in  constant  embarrassment 
and  uneasiness 

Northampton,  December  8,  1833*  ....  Nothing 
could  be  kinder  than  the  feelings  expressed  toward  me 
by  the  people  of  North  Carolina.  The  Legislature  was 
in  session,  and  the  Convention  for  internal  improvement. 
Of  course  I  had  a  chance  of  seeing  most  of  their  great 
characters;  and,  in  truth,  I  found  several  men  of  great 
worth  and  talent. 

Northampton,  January  13,  1834.!  ....  On  my  re- 
turn to  Northampton,  and  reflecting  upon  all  the  hopes 
and  prospects  before  me,  I  concluded  that  it  would  be 
best  for  me  to  accept  the  offer  from  Raleigh,  inasmuch  as 
it  was  a  certainty,  and  I  did  not  feel  myself  at  liberty  to 
run  any  risk  with  my  only  productive  capital,  my  time 
and  intellectual  powers.  I,  therefore,  sat  down,  ere  I 
had  been  at  home  a  week,  and  signified  my  acceptance 
in  due  form,  expressly  stating  that  I  did  not  bind  myself 
beyond  a  year,  which  has  been  recognized  in  the  reply  of 
the  committee.  I  am  now  occupied  in  preparing  for  my 
departure  thither,  which  is  to  be  in  April.  I  have  ad- 
vertised   Round   Hill  in   the    Boston   papers,  and  shall 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Samuel  Ward,  New  York. 


Age 47]     ANXIETY  TO  BE  FREE  FROM  DEBT.  185 

send  an  advertisement  to  New  York,  shortly,  for  inser- 
tion there.1 

....  I  should  have  greatly  preferred  to  reside 
in  New  York  or  Philadelphia,  could  it  have  been  so 
ordered.  I  want  to  be  in  the  world,  and  among  the 
benevolent  and  excellent  of  mankind,  and  aid  in  such 
things  as  raise  the  character  of  man  here  on  earth,  and 
lead  him  to  think  more  of  the  life  he  is  to  lead  hereafter. 
....  My  determined  purpose  is  to  be  free  from  debt,  if 
God  sees  fit  to  spare  my  life.  Two  years  of  labor  will 
accomplish  this,  and  if  it  were  a  toil  ten  times  as  irksome, 
with  this  hope  to  cheer  me  in  the  performance  of  it,  I 
should  feel  no  despondency. 

1    About   this    time    he   says   to   Mr.  sell   it  for  that  sum  here  ;  "  and  to  Mr. 

Ward,   "  I  have   a  beautiful   cabinet   of  Ticknor,  "  I  am  thinking   of  a  visit  to 

minerals,  somewhat  over  300  specimens  the  Literary  Emporium,  in  February,  say 

in  a  very  neat  cabinet.     Could  there  be  near  the  close,  to  see  if  I  can  persuade 

any  hope  of  selling  it  in  New  York  ?     It  the  people  to  buy  my  books,  which  are 

cost  me,  in  Germany,  $500,  and  I  \yould  to  be  sold  by  auction  there." 

24 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1834-35.  —  Life  in  Raleigh. 

ATEWBERN,  N.  C,  May  1,  [1834.]  *.  .  .  .  This  was 
*•  ^  the  day  fixed  upon  for  the  beginning  of  my  new 
labors  at  Raleigh,  and  here  I  am  still  loitering  upon 
the  road,  or  rather,  having  turned  aside  from  the  proper 
road,  I  find  it  difficult  to  regain  it.  As  far  as  Balti- 
more I  felt  myself  still  in  my  native  land,  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  there,  multitudes  were  known  to  me ; 
but  the  moment  I  landed  on  this  side  the  Chesapeake 
I  found  little  or  nothing  with  which  I  had  any  pleasant 
associations,  but  remembering  that  I  knew  one  de- 
lightful lady  at  Edenton,  and  remembering,  too,  that  I 
had  promised  never  again  to  pass  within  an  hundred 
miles  of  her  residence  without  making  her  a  visit,  I 
turned  off  from  the  direct  route  to  Raleigh,  and  took 
the  coast  road  to  this  place.  Edenton  was  so  pleasant 
that  I  did  not  get  away  from  it  for  three  days.  The 
gentlemen  made  dinner-parties  for  me,  the  ladies  took 
me  out  upon  morning  drives  to  see  all  that  was  beauti- 
ful in  field  and  forest,  and  made  tea-parties  every  even- 
ing, that  I  might  see  they  had  other  beauties  beside 
those  of  inanimate  nature  to  boast  of.  I  called  to  mind 
your  remark  that  one  might  find  or  make  friends  every- 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  47-]  LIFE    IN  RALEIGH.  1 87 

where,  but  this  sort  of  friendship  is  too  diluted  for  me, 
the  human  affections  are  not  strong  enough  to  be  thus 

divided    among    thousands I    have  not    found 

summer  yet;  it  is  cold  enough  here  to  require  a  fire, 
although  the  vegetation  of  Spring  is  forth  in  all  its 
luxuriance, — strawberries  abound,  and  green  peas  for 
those  who  can  eat  them. 

Raleigh,  Saturday  Morning,  J  tine  28,  [1834.]  * 
Your  letter  from  Lowell,  my  dear  Mrs.  T.,  came  to  me 
the  very  moment  when  I  could  best  prize  its  worth. 
I  was  suffering  under  the  dreadful  exhaustion  of  a 
Southern   bilious   fever,  and  felt  almost  as  if  I  had  not 

a   friend    on   earth    to    love  or  lament  for  me 

This  is  my  first  day  of  labor  since  my  illness.  It  was 
severe  while  it  lasted  and  threatened  to  end  all  my 
toils  very  soon,  but  my  own  good  constitution  and  great 
prtidence  struggled  victoriously  with  the  enemy  and 
conquered 

The  materiel  of  our  establishment1  consists  at  present 
of  a  comfortable  mansion  house,  once  the  residence 
of  the  former  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  and  a  new 
stone  building,  sixty  feet  by  forty,  erected  expressly  for 
the  school.  The  latter  is  situated  in  a  very  pleasant 
oak  grove,  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  town 
of  Raleigh,  on  a  small  eminence,  about  the  height  of 
Beacon  Hill.  The  house  first  spoken  of  is  applied 
to  domestic  purposes,  and  to  lodging  rooms  for  about 
a  dozen  pupils  and  one  Instructor.     The  new  building 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
1  This  school  was  founded  by  Bishop  Ives. 


1 88  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1834- 

contains  a  dormitory  for  twenty-four  boys  and  a  school- 
room below  (temporary).  My  quarters  are  here,  remote 
from  every  human  being,  except  boys,  who  are  con- 
tinually around  me,  just  as  they  used  to  be  at  Round 
Hill.  This  was  my  own  choice,  for  I  saw,  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye,  how  things  would  go  if  they  were  left 
to  any  arrangement  except  my  own.  Excuse  my  vanity, 
but  I  well  know  that  I  am  willing  to  do  what  no  one 
else  will. 

The  people  here  are  very  pleasant,  refined,  and  kind 
almost  to  annoyance,  but  I  am  now  as  unable  to  take 
part  in  society,  as  I  was  in  Northampton,  and,  of  course, 
I  cannot  think  of  Raleigh  as  a  home  very  long. 

The  Trustees  of  the  school  give  me  all  power,  and 
distinctly  state  to  the  students  that  there  is  no  appeal 
from  my  decisions,  in  any  case.  I  began  by  establish- 
in<y  five  as  the  hour  of  rising,  morning  school  at  half 
after  five,  no  holiday  on  Saturday,  no  communication 
with  the  town,  no  pocket  money  and  no  smoking,  under 
penalty  of  immediate  dismission  in  case  of  wilful  vio- 
lation.    I  dismissed  one  the  first  fortnight  for  stealing 

down  to  town   in  the    evening The   parents    in 

town  are  denied  all  authority  over  their  children,  in 
everything  touching  their  school  duties,  and  cannot 
keep  them  at  home,  for  any  reason  whatever,  except 
sickness.  I  began  by  telling  the  boys  that  the  school 
had  not  been  established  for  their  pleasure,  but  for 
their  improvement,  and  that  they  would  be  sure  to  find 
it  a  life  of  labor  and  self-denial,  so  long  as  it  was  under 
my  directions 


Age  47-]  THE  SCHOOL.  1 89 

Raleigh,  Sunday  Evening,  August  10,  1834.*  ....  I 
am  here  in  a  sort  of  desolate  island,  lord  of  all  I  survey, 
in  the  midst  of  an  oak  forest,  a  mile  from  Raleigh,  sole 
sovereign  and  supreme  over  nearly  sixty  boys.  They 
are  round  me  by  day  and  by  night,  at  this  moment 
the  whole  herd  is  buzzing  around  me,  as  I  sit  on  my 
throne  in  the  school-room.  At  ten  o'clock  when  they 
go  to  bed  I  am  still  with  them.  I  sleep  in  the  room  with 
them,  that  is  half  of  them  ;  the  only  moment  of  quiet 
I  can  get  is  when  they  are  buried  in  sleep,  and  then  I 
am  tired  enough  to  sleep  too.  My  cares  are  quite  as 
great  as  they  were  at  Round  Hill,  except  that  I  have  no 
household  concerns  on  my  hands ;  in  all  other  respects 
I  am  equally  a  slave,  and  a  thousand  times  as  much  of 
one  as  any  darkey  I  have  seen  here.  This  is  just  what 
I  cannot  endure  long. 

The  people  are  exceedingly  kind  to  me :  they  visit  me 
in  sickness,  and  send  me  all  the  restoratives  and  cordials 
their  store-rooms  afford,  but  it  is  a  strange  land,  their 
manners  are  stransfe,  the  countenances  are  all  strange, 
and  even  the  names  are  strange,  not  an  object  calls  up 
an  association  with  earlier  days. 

Our  eating-house  is  fifty  or  sixty  rods  removed  from 
my  abode,  so  that  our  grove  is  a  real  academy,  devoted 
only  to  pure  literature,  the  sound  of  knives  and  forks 
never  reaches  it.  This  is  one  relief  to  me,  and  I  have 
had  one  other  consolation,  which  is,  that  I  have  had 
complete  success  in  breaking  to  the  harness  more  than 
half  an  hundred  high-spirited  Southerners,  which  they 
said  no  Yankee  could  do.     Among  these  are  boys  of 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


190  JOSETH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1834. 

eighteen  and  nineteen,  one  a  graduate  at  William  and 
Mary's  College  in  Virginia,  and  several  college  bloods, 
who  stopped  ere  they  reached  the  goal,  Sophomores, 
Juniors,  etc. 

Now  I  have  told  you  so  much  about  myself  do  pray 
reward  me  by  a  good  long  letter,  full  of  good  news  about 
yourself  and  Mr.  Prescott,  and  William  and  Susan,  and 
Franklin  and  Elizabeth,  and  the  little  ones  all.  It  would 
be  a  real  feast  to  me  to  have  such  a  letter.  Speaking  of 
feasting  reminds  me  that  nothing  but  hog  is  eaten  here 
all  summer ;  the  provision  for  the  school  consisted  of 
four  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  of  ham,  and  ham  is 
the  standing  dish  every  time  the  table  is  set 

Raleigh,  August  u,  1834*  ....  I  wish  I  could  af- 
ford you  a  moment's  amusement  with  an  account  of  the 
country  and  people  here,  but,  what  with  illness  and 
duties  to  keep  me  at  home,  I  have  scarcely  passed  the 
limits  of  our  school  grounds  for  two  months.1  I  have 
had  no  opportunity  of  seeing  anything  of  the  tone  of 
society  in  this  great  capital ;  not  a  party  of  any  kind  has 
been  given  since  my  arrival,  I  mean  for  the  ladies. 
During  the  visit  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  May,  be- 
fore the  school  opened,  we  had  several  dinner  parties,  at 

*  To  Mrs.  George  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  On  the  following  day  he  wrote  thus  :  says  to  Mr.  Ward,  "  To  be  able  to  say 

"  Mr.  Ward  of  New  York,  hearing  of  my  '  I  owe  no  man  anything  '  it  is  the  thought 

illness,  then    proposed  to   me   to  go  to  which  occupies  my  mind  night  and  day. 

Europe,  and  travel  with   his   son   Sam,  I   could  not  go   abroad  unless   I   could 

offering  me  $2,000  per  annum,  and  ex-  dispose  of  property  enough  to  bring  in 

penses.     I  doubt  not  but  it  is  all  right  j>6,ooo.     At  this  time  I  could  not  do  it. 

that  I  could  not  accept,  but  I  felt  it  a  This  is  the  insurmountable  obstacle." 
sad  disappointment  at  the   time."     He 


Ace  47-1  AMONG   STRANGERS.  IQI 

which  everything  seemed  right  and  fit,  except  a  super- 
abundance of  ham  and  great  titles.  We  had  a  round 
of  visiting  with  the  court ;  and  the  company  regularly 
consisted  of  the  Chief  Justice  and  his  associate  Judge, 
the  Marshal  of  the  District,  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Attorney,  the  Governor  of  the  State,  three  ex- 
Governors,  two  ex-Judges,  the  lady  of  the  house,  and 
myself.  .... 

We  go  on  prosperously  in  the  school ;  there  is  no 
sign  of  disorder,  but  we  have  a  dreadful  uncouth  set  to 
deal  with,  accustomed  to  the  manners  of  country  planta- 
tions, remote  from  civilization,  who  had  never  heard  be- 
fore that  hats  could  not  be  worn  at  all  times  and  in  all 
places.  In  a  speech  I  made  to  the  boys,  one  day,  I  ob- 
served to  them,  that  no  gentleman  ever  addressed  another 
gentleman  in  the  house,  or  addressed  a  lady  anywhere, 
in-doors  or  out,  with  his  hat  on,  and  the  remark  has  had 
such  an  effect  upon  the  beaux  of  Raleigh,  that,  I  un- 
derstand, they  are  now  seen  standing  on  the  sidewalk  in 
the  broiling  sun,  witlj  uncovered  heads,  if  they  chance  to 
meet  the  ladies  of  their  acquaintance 

Raleigh,  September  14,  1834*  ....  Did  you  ever 
pass  a  summer  without  seeing  a  human  being  whom  you 
had  known  before  ?  Of  course  you  never  did,  and  I 
have  no  remembrance  that  I  ever  did  before  the  present. 
When  abroad  I  was  constantly  meeting  old  acquaint- 
ances and  friends.     Even  in  India1  I  found  some   early 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  This  is  the  only  allusion  to  his  early     in  all  the  mass  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  letters 
voyage  to  India,  which  has  been   found     examined  for  this  work. 


192  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1834. 

associates,  but  here  not  one  solitary  long-remembered 
countenance  has  smiled  upon  me.  I  have  sometimes 
looked  up  to  see  if  the  stars  over  my  head  did  not  mark 
another  hemisphere,  I  could  not  believe  that  I  was  on 
the  New  England  side  of  the  equator. 

Well,  there  is  no  evil  without  its  attendant  good.  I 
have  learned  to  prize  many  a  New  England  blessing  by 
its  flight,  and  I  have  not  discovered  a  single  circum- 
stance in  which  the  South  has  the  advantage  of  us ; 
but  of  all  the  curses  here,  there  is  none  to  compare  with 
that  of  slavery,  it  pollutes  and  poisons  every  relation  of 
society.  I  have  never  seen  a  domestic  service  of  any 
kind  well  done  here.  The  very  brightest  of  the  slaves 
seem  scarcely  a  degree  removed  from  brutish  stupidity, 
and  the  free  negroes  still  lower.  Several  of  the  latter 
who  have  been  sent  to  me  on  trial  had  never  seen  a  bed 
in  their  lives.  When  ordered  to  make  one  they  put  the 
sheets  on  the  outside  of  the  counterpane,  and  could  not 
be  made  to  comprehend  the  use  of  many  of  the  most 

common  articles  of  household  furniture It  is  said 

here,  however,  that  the  uneducated  whites  have  sunk 
nearly  to  their  level.  Can  much  be  hoped  for  the  rising 
generation  if  they  are  to  be  educated  among  such  be- 
ings ?  Were  it  not  for  this  obstacle  it  would  really  be  a 
fine  field  for  such  an  enterprise,  for  there  is  a  great  thirst 
for  knowledge  and  a  great  deal  of  talent  among  the 
youth  of  the  South,1  but  little  or  nothing  can  be  done  in 
the  most  important  part  of  education,  the  formation  of 
character  and  the  fixing  of  good  moral  principles  and 

1  He  says  to  Mrs.  Prescott,  December  are  from  the  first  families  of  the  State, 
3,  1834:  "The  young  men  who  have  and  must  soon  be  in  its  councils  and 
been  at  the  school  in  Raleigh  this  season,     legislatures." 


Age  48]  COLUMBIA,  S.  C.  1 93 

habits,  while  such  a  portion  of  the  community  is  in  so 
degraded  and  wretched  a  condition. 

Columbia,  South  Carolina,  December  3,  1834.*.  .  .  . 
Here  I  find  all  my  old  nullifying  friends,  —  Hayne, 
Hamilton,  and  Calhoun.  I  have  been  to  the  Assembly 
to-day,  and  seen  a  sight  or  two  such  as  we  rarely  see 
in  our  Boston  State  House,  —  a  member  attempting  to 
make  a  speech  who  could  not  stand  on  his  feet,  a  sen- 
ate chamber  floor  strewed  over  with  ground-nut  shells, 
and  tobacco  juice  running  in  streams  down  every  aisle. 
Political  violence  is  just  at  its  height  at  this  moment, 
the  State  rights  party  is  beginning  to  divide,  a  part 
wishing  for  moderation,  and  a  part,  and  by  far  the 
greater  part,  resolved  upon  pushing  everything  to  ex- 
tremities, so  that  the  civil  war  in  South  Carolina,  which 
I  had  thought  ended  long  since,  seems  just  breaking 
out  with  fresh  fury. 

This  is  a  pretty  town,  built  on  the  banks  of  the  Con- 
garee,  with  wide  and  spacious  streets  and  fine  buildings, 
but  all  lying  under  the  curse  of  slavery.  Such  a  mass 
of  ruins  as  the  College  buildings  present  no  one  has 
ever  seen  that  has  not  been  here,  not  only  glass  broken 
entirely  from  the  sashes,  but,  in  many  cases,  window 
frames  themselves  all  gone,  bricks  falling  out  and  roofs 
falling  in,  and  every  other  mark  of  dilapidation  that 
mischief  can  create  and  neglect  help  on.  They  talk 
of  reform ;  they  even  go  so  far  as  to  say,  that  the  opera- 
tions of  the  College  shall  be  suspended  for  a  year,  and 
everything  repaired,  and  a  new  order  of  things  estab- 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

25 


194  JOSErH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1835. 

lished  ;  and  this,  they  say,  shall  be  done  forthwith,  if  I 
will  engage  to  come  here  and  take  charge  of  the  Insti- 
tution.1 Much  as  I  want  money,  money  will  not  tempt 
me  to  do  this.  There  is,  however,  a  temptation,  which 
I  should  not  so  easily  resist,  if  I  really  believed  that  I 
could  work  as  much  moral  improvement  as  they  flatter 
me  I  could,  I  should  not  know  how  to  resist  the  at- 
tempt. The  salvation  of  our  land  depends  much  upon 
the  efforts  made  upon  our  Southern  youths,  their  no- 
tions are  extravagant  beyond  all  that  we  can  conceive 
of,  and  our  government  is  gone  if  their  opinions  go  on 
unchecked.  I  never  hoped  to  effect  half  what  I  have 
done  in  a  single  session ;  it  is  truly  the  best  labor  of 
my  life  and  one  of  which  I  have  most  reason  to  be 
proud 

Raleigh,  Febrtiary  1,  1835.*  My  dear  Mrs.  P.,  for  a 
long  while  after  I  left  you  I  had  nothing  but  tossing 
about  by  sea  and  land,  which  continued  with  scarce  an 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  Writing  from  Boston  (where  he  was  Ward   of  New   York,   if  I   should  like 

then   going),   on   December   25    to   Mr.  the   great   Commercial   Emporium  as  a 

Daveis,  he  sets  forth  various  proposals  place  of  residence Since   I  have 

made  to  him.     "  In  the  first  place  it  was  been  in  Boston  I  have  received  a  letter 

urged  upon  me  in  September  to  run,  as  from  Governor   M'Duffie   informing  me 

we  say  at  the  South,  for  the  Presidency  that  on  the   13th  of  December  I  was,  by 

of  Pennsylvania  University.  I  consented,  an  unanimous  vote,  elected  Professor  of 

with  assurance  of  success  from  numer-  Greek   and    Roman    Literature    in    the 

ous  friends All  these  and  other  South    Carolina    College    at    Columbia 

like   castles,  were   razed  by  the  zeal  of  ...    .    another   letter,   from   Hamilton 

the    Presbyterians At   the    same  received  at  the  same  time  saying,  "  You 

time   came  divers  intimations  from  Bos-  are  now  decidedly  the  favorite  candidate 

ton  of  good  prospects  for  me  there,  and  for  the  Presidency I  should    be 

earnest  solicitations    from  Northampton  strongly   tempted   but   for   the   political 

for   my   return   to   them,    together   with  broils  of  Governor  M'Duffie  &  Co." 
various   inquiries   from   my   friend    Mr. 


Age48.]    scholars  from  the  backwoods.         195 

hour  of  interval  until  I  reached  this  place.  I  had  hoped 
to  find  a  little  quiet  here,  before  resuming  labors,  that 
I  might  write  a  letter  or  two,  of  remembrance  and 
thanks,  to  you  and  other  friends,  who  had  received  me 
with  ancient  cordiality,  but  the  accidents,  and  delays  of 
travelling  retarded  my  progress  so  much,  that  I  did  not 
arrive  until  one  hour  before  I  had  to  call  the  boys  to- 
gether. From  that  moment  to  the  present  I  have  been 
pushed  on  to  the  top  of  my  speed.  Forty  new  pupils, 
most  of  them  raw  backwoodsmen,  have  made  work 
enough  for  every  moment  of  my  time,  both  day  and 
night. 

Let  me  give  you  a  specimen  of  the  sort  of  animals 
we  have  to  tame.  About  a  week  since,  a  lad,  in  ap- 
pearance about  fourteen,  in  coarse  homespun  clothes, 
rode  up  to  the  schoolroom  door,  dismounted  from  his 
pony,  came  into  the  room,  and  handed  me  three  fifty 
dollar  bank  notes.  "  I  am  come  to  your  school,"  said 
he,  '•'  and  when  that  money  is  spent,  father  will  send 
me  more."  He  proved  to  be  from  the  banks  of  the 
Yazoo  River  in  Mississippi,  and  had  been  thirty-two 
days  on  horseback.  The  next  day  he  sold  his  Choctaw, 
began  his  studies,  and  promises  to  be  a  bright  genius. 

I  must  tell  you  a  little  about  my  adventures  after  I 
left  Boston,  as  I  do  not  know  that  the  newspapers  have 
taken  any  notice  of  them.  My  departure,  you  will 
recollect,  was  Sunday  night,  December  28.  The  next 
evening,  at  five,  I  reached  Northampton,  where  I  was 
greeted  more  cordially  than  I  had  ever  been  before,  and 
where  I  visited  more  than  I  did  during  a  ten  years' 
residence.     On   Friday  I   left  for   New  York,  which   I 


196  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1835. 

reached  on  Saturday,  at  2  p.  m.,  January  3,  the  first  of 
the  three  direful  cold  days.  All  accounts  spoke  of  the 
dreadful  state  of  the  roads,  and  the  horrors  of  the  land 
journey,  which  determined  me  to  embark  in  the  Wm. 
Gibbons  steamboat,  which  started  at  four,  the  same 
afternoon,  for  Charleston.  After  a  most  tempestuous 
but  rapid  passage,  we  arrived  in  Charleston  on  Tuesday 
evening  at  seven.  The  next  day  I  was  waited  upon 
by  Ex-Governors  Hamilton  and  Hayne,  and  actual 
Governor  M'Duffie,  pressed  by  them  to  come  to  a  de- 
cision to  accept  the  Professorship  at  Columbia,  but  did 

not Various  other  obstacles  afterwards  checked 

my  progress,  such  as  finding  wide  creeks  partly  frozen, 
with  ice  too  thin  to  bear  a  carriage,  and  too  thick  for 
the  horses  to  break  through,  in  one  of  which  we  got 
stuck,  and,  but  for  the  courage  and  perseverance  of  a 
Yankee,  we  should  have  had  the  pleasure  of  wading 
through  a  stream  fifty  yards  wide,  frozen  over  to  the 
thickness  of  nearly  an  inch.  A  spare  driver  on  the 
box,  got  out  to  our  rescue,  and  managed  the  affair  so 
adroitly,  that  one  and  all  the  passengers  cried  out,  "  A 
Yankee  by ,"  and  a  Yankee  he  proved  to  be. 

Raleigh,  March  1,  1835*  ....  As  soon  as  this  was 
known  to  me,1  I  renewed  my  engagement  at  Raleigh  for 
a  year,  where  I  assure  you  I  am  more  valued  than  I  ever 
believed  myself  to  be  anywhere  else.      They  tell  me 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis. 

1  The  failure   of  a  negotiation  about     nity  it  offered  for  returning  among  his 
private  pupils  in  Boston,  which  he  had    friends, 
entertained   on  account  of  the  opportu- 


Age  48.]  LABORS  AT  RALEIGH.  197 

that  the  continuance  of  an  institution  supported  by  the 
Bishop  and  clergy,  and  all  the  principal  laymen  of  the 
diocese,  depended  on  my  remaining  here  for  some  time 
longer,  which  I  do  not  exactly  believe  to  be  true,  however 
flattering  the  testimony  may  be.  It  is  now  full  to  over- 
flowing, and  might  have  double  its  present  number,  if  it 
had  accommodations  for  them.  The  labors  of  my  sta- 
tion are  of  course,  great,  but  they  are  cheered  by  the 
strongest  evidence  of  their  being  successful.  Rough, 
rude,  idle  boys  become  refined,  civil  and  industrious,  and 
a  general  spirit  of  content  prevails,  under  a  system  of 
discipline  more  severe  than  I  ever  thought  of  applying 
in  New  England,  or  ever  supposed  would  patiently  be 
borne  anywhere. 

We  have,  too,  a  board  of  trustees,  men  of  the  highest 
character  and  most  liberal  feelings.  They  meddle  with 
nothing  but  providing  funds.  Every  question,  of  receiv- 
ing pupils,  and  dismissing  them,  and  administering  dis- 
cipline of  every  kind,  depends  upon  myself  alone.  Were 
it  not  for  its  remoteness  from  all  that  I  love,  and  for  its 
severe  and  exhausting  toils,  I  should  glory  in  giving  to 
this  institution  the  character,  usefulness,  and  reputation 
which  I  am  sure  it  may  receive.  Do  not  think  that  all 
these  things  make  me  vain  ;  but  if  they  prove  to  me  that 
God  has  given  me  the  power  of  being  serviceable  to 
many,  ought  I  not  to  be  willing  to  labor  in  the  use  of 
them  ?  ....  I  am  as  well  as  one  can  be  who  has  the 
din  of  one  hundred  boys  around  him  all  day  and  part 
of  the  night.  Even  that,  I  believe,  is  better  for  me  than 
a  state  of  dull  inaction 

I  wish  dear  E.  would  let  me  see  a  line  from  her  now 


198  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1835. 

and  then.  It  is  a  handwriting  which  I  never  look  upon 
without  a  thrill.  Mary,1  too,  why  cannot  she  remember 
her  old  uncle  in  his  exile  ?  .  .  .  . 

1  Mary  Oilman    Daveis,  of  whom    he  ever  borne  by  any  earthly  object."     He 

wrote,  "ii  receiving  the  news  of  her  birth,  turned  to  her  in  his  old  age,  and  not  in 

that  two  of  the  strongest   affections    of  vain,  for  such  care  and  comfort  as  few 

his  heart  would   centre  in  her,  and  that  men  receive  except  from  their  own  chil- 

her  name  was  to  him  "  the  dearest  name  dren. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

1835-1837.  —  Last  year  in  Raleigh.  —  Fourth  time  to  Europe. 

"D  ALEIGH,  March  4,  1835.*  ....  When  I  came  to 
-*-^-  Raleigh  I  felt  myself  a  mere  sojourner  for  a  few 
months,  and  I  did  not  care  to  know,  or  be  known  out  of 
the  sphere  of  my  proper  vocation,  —  but  since  I  find  it 
must  be  my  resting  place  I  have  taken  up  a  new  resolu- 
tion, and  for  the  sake  of  society  have  agreed  to  teach 
one  young  lady  Italian,  who  is  the  belle  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  several  French,  who  are  not  remarkable  for 
beauty.  When  I  come  to  see  you  again  I  hope  to  show 
you  the  benefit  of  a  little  good  culture  upon  myself.  I 
have  never  visited  familiarly,  since  I  came  here,  in  any 
family,  and  have  formed  acquaintances  only  with  three, 
in  two  of  which  the  eldest  daughter  is  exceedingly  pretty, 
Southern  pretty,  I  mean, — soft,  delicate  and  languishing, 
like  some  of  the  beauties  of  the  Court  of  Charles  II.,  as 
described  by  Mrs.  Jameson. 

....  In  no  part  of  the  United  States  have  I  found 
so  primitive  a  people  as  in  this  State.  The  descendants 
of  the  early  Scotch  settlers  retain  all  the  peculiarities  of 
their  ancestors.  The  towns  are  all  small,  and  have  con- 
sequently never  had  any  great  influx  of  foreigners,  hence 

*  To  Mrs.  George  Ticknor,  Boston. 


200  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1835. 

language,  usages  and  manners  are  all  provincial.  Ra- 
leigh, being  the  capital,  has  a  sort  of  court  character 
less  distinctive,  and  yet  enough  so  to  distinguish  it  from 
all  other  places  in  which  I  have  lived.  As  I  must  in 
spite  of  me,  become  a  North  Carolinian,  I  am  resolved 
to  know  more  about  these  strange  people,  who  seem  to 
me  to  be  a  stranger  mixture  of  good  and  bad  qualities, 
than  any  I  have  known 

Raleigh,  Sunday  Evening,  May  24,  [1835.]*  .... 
The  good  folks  here  continue  very  kind  to  me.  My 
health  flagging  the  ladies  have  combined  to  invigorate 
me,  learning  somehow,  but  how  I  know  not,  that  plum- 
cake  was  my  restorative,  I  have  received  presents  of  two 
fine  ones  the  past  week,  besides  all  other  delicacies  im- 
aginable. I  have  eaten  no  meat,  nor  drank  tea  or  coffee 
since  January,  from  fear  of  bilious  fevers ;  the  conse- 
quence is  that  I  am  weak  but  otherwise  well.1 


Raleigh,  September  10,  1835.!  ....  A  succession 
of  those  horrid  bilious  attacks  has  exhausted  all  my 
strength  and  spirits,  and  fixed  upon  me  the  genuine 
cadaverous  look  of  a  Southerner.     In  addition  I  have 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 

1  In  the  account  of  his  hairbreadth  doors  of  which  were  commonly  left  open 
escapes,  and  in  conversation,  Mr.  Cogs-  in  summer.  One  evening  he  had  un- 
well told  the  following  anecdote  :  His  dressed  to  go  to  bed,  and  had  put  out 
house  at  Raleigh  was  not  only  on  the  the  light.  On  turning  down  the  counter- 
edge  of  a  forest,  but  near  a  brook  fre-  pane  he  discovered,  by  the  light  of  the 
quented  by  moccason  snakes,  which  are  moon,  a  large  moccason  coiled  up  in  the 
as  venomous  as  rattlesnakes.  His  sleep-  centre  of  the  bed.  The  reptile,  he  said, 
ing  room  was  on  the   ground  floor,  the  did  not  escape  alive. 


AgE4S.]  REBELLION  IN  SCHOOL.  201 

had  the  lord  of  misrule  to  contend  with.  Early  in 
August  the  genuine  mob  spirit  got  among  the  boys, 
and  changed  our  hitherto  peaceful  little  community 
into  a  band  of  turbulent  rebels.  For  two  successive 
nights  I  kept  about  sixty  of  them  without  sleep,  or 
with  the  little  which  they  could  snatch  in  their  desks 
in  the  school-room  ;  on  the  third  morning  I  began  to 
dismiss  the  leaders  from  the  school  and,  in  the  course 
of  a  fortnight,  got  rid  of  a  dozen  in  this  way.  When 
the  storm  subsided,  we  found  the  atmosphere  purified, 
and  a    beautiful    serene    sky   overhanging    us,  and  the 

most  pacific  aspect  all  round  our  horizon When 

I  communicated  my  doings  to  our  Trustees,  their 
answer  was,  "  Clear  out  the  whole  if  you  find  it  neces- 
sary for  the  establishment  of  order."  This  reminded 
me  of  Judge  Parsons  who  used  to  say,  on  such  oc- 
casions, "  Whitewash  the  walls."  .... 

*  The  principle  so  often  contended  for  among  boys, 
that  they  will  not  furnish  evidence  against  a  fellow- 
student,  was  set  up  and  strenuously  contended  for,  but 
so  far  from  being  recognized  as  our  common  law,  every 
individual  who  acted  upon  it  was  dismissed  from  the 
school.  As  a  principle  I  consider  it  the  most  danger- 
ous to  education  of  all  the  false  notions  among  boys  ; 
it  is  the  chain  which  the  vicious  throw  around  the 
virtuous,  and  the  great  fortress  of  mischief  and  wicked- 
ness. I  would  never  hear  a  word  of  information  in 
private  from  a  boy,  on  the  other  hand  I  would  no  more 
allow  one  to  refuse  answers  to   open  inquiries,  than  I 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 
26 


202  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1835. 

would  allow  a  witness  on  the  stand  to  do  the  same,  if 
I  were  on  the  bench 

Philadelphia,  December  13,  1835.*.  ...  I  have  made 
a  stop  of  a  day  or  two   in  this  city  of  brotherly  love, 

for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  little  rest My  health 

became  so  feeble,  before  the  close  of  the  session,  that 
I  was  compelled,  both  in  justice  to  myself,  and  to  the 
institution  over  which  I  was  placed,  to  offer  my  resig- 
nation of  the  sceptre,  with  all  its  honors  and  emolu- 
ments. The  trustees  declined  accepting  it,  and  begged 
me  to  take  as  much  time,  in  addition  to  the  vacation, 
as  I  might  find  necessary  for  thoroughly  recruiting ; 
to  which  my  only  answer  was,  that,  if  they  preferred, 
I  would  suspend  my  final  decision  until  I  could  confer 
with  my  friends  in  New  England.  I  now  feel  myself 
at  liberty  to  return  to  Raleigh  or  not,  according  to  the 
state  of  my  health,  after  some  weeks  of  remission  from 
labor,  and  the  prospects  I  may  have  of  useful  and 
honorable  employment  otherwhere. 

My  old  friend,  Mr.  Ward,  of  New  York,  says  to  me, 
"  Come  to  this  city,  and  I  will  guarantee  to  you  a  salary 
of  $2,000  per  annum  clear  of  all  expense,  for  four  hours 
of  your  service  daily."  .... 

A  residence  at  the  South  is  daily  becoming  more 
disagreeable  to  a  native  of  New  England,  who  cherishes 
his  love  and  regard  for  the  land  of  his  fathers  ;  the  late 
agitation  of  the  slave  question  has  excited,  almost  uni- 
versally, feelings  of  hostility  to  the  States  in  which  the 
discussion  is  permitted,  which  are  often  expressed  in 
language  a  little   too  strong  for  Yankee  pride  to  bear. 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 


Age  49]  THE    WRONG  OF  SLAVERY.  203 

Individually  I  have  met  with  no  difficulties  on  this 
account,  which  I  owe,  however,  more  to  my  own  pru- 
dence, than  to  any  forbearance  on  the  part  of  the  people 
among  whom  I  live ;  had  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  be  a 
martyr  to  the  cause  of  negro  emancipation,  I  have 
seen  many  an  occasion  when  I  could  have  readily  be- 
come one,  and  sometimes,  I  confess,  when  it  required 
all  my  self-command  to  suppress  the  indignation  which 
arose  in  my  breast  at  the  atrocious  sentiments  I  have 
heard  uttered.  The  great  agitators  at  the  North  are 
altogether  wrong  in  the  ground  of  their  attack  upon 
slavery ;  it  is  not  a  cause  of  extensive  suffering  and 
misery  to  those  who  are  in  bondage,  but  it  is  sustained 
upon  a  principle  revolting  to  every  generous  feeling  of 
the  heart,  —  that  of  placing  a  portion  of  the  human  race 
precisely  on  a  footing  with  a  herd  of  cattle,  providing 
for  them  as  such,  nurturing  them  as  such,  and  dis- 
posing of  them  as  such,  and  that,  not  for  crime,  but  for 
the  mere  accident  of  color  and  subjugation.  I  have 
not  read  a  word  on  this  subject,  my  opinions  upon  it 
are  the  result  of  my  own  reflections,  and  they  are  in 
accord,  I  believe,  with  those  of  every  fair,  disinterested 

examiner 

I  expect  to  see  the  Walshes  and  a  few  others  this 
evening,  and  to  start  in  the  morning  for  New  York,  and 
thence  for  Boston  via  Northampton 

Raleigh,  January  24,  1836.*  ....  On  my  return 
here  I  was  greeted  with  great  cordiality.  The  boys, 
who  had  been  advised  of  my  arrival,  formed  a  regular 
lane,  opening  to  the  right  and  left,  as  I  approached  the 

*  To  Mrs,  Prescott. 


204  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1836. 

school,  and  gave  me  their  hands,  in  order,  as  I  passed 
through 

A  great  temptation,  if  money  could  be  a  temptation 
to  me,  has  just  been  offered  to  go  farther  South.  On 
my  return  from  Boston,  I  found  here  a  letter  from  the 
Governor  of  Louisiana,  informing  me  of  my  appoint- 
ment to  the  office  of  President  of  Jefferson  College  in 
Louisiana,  with  a  salary  of  #4,000  per  annum,  and  perqui- 
sites, with  no  instruction  to  give,  and  no  labors,  but  those 
of  general  superintendence,  to  perform,  —  to  which  offer 
I  had  the  very  satisfactory  answer  to  make,  by  way  of  re- 
fusal, that  I  was  already  engaged,1  and,  if  I  had  not  been, 
I  should  have  found  it  hard  to  connect  myself  with  an 
institution  bearing  the  name  of  Jefferson 

One  trouble,  which  has  been  on  my  mind  is  now  re- 
moved. Our  Bishop,  who  has  been  abroad  for  nearly  a 
year,  is  returned,  and,  as  I  took  the  school  from  his 
hands,  I  was  unwilling  to  surrender  it  to  any  other.  To 
him  I  return  it,  in  good  condition  and  far  more  flourish- 
ing than  when  he  left  it 

Raleigh,  February  23,  1836.*  ....  Among  the 
multitude  of  strange  propositions  which  have  recently 
been  made  me,  is  one  from  Mr.  Devereux,  to  take  an  in- 
terest with  him  in  a  cotton  manufactory,  for  which  he 
offers  to  advance  me  $20,000,  and  give  me  the  agency. 
What  would  you  say  to  my  being  the  overseer  of  some 
two  or  three  hundred  children  of  the  sun,  with  lash  in 
hand?  Hard  as  the  labor  is,  I  would  rather  wield  the 
birchen  sceptre. 

*  To  S.  Ward,  New  York. 
1  To  an  arrangement  proposed  by  Mr.  Ward. 


Age  49.]  DEPARTURE   FROM  RALEIGH.  205 

I  am  fast  running  off  all  the  good  solid  muscle  which 
I  gained  at  your  generous  table.  To  keep  me  alive  a 
month  longer,  they  turned  me  out  of  the  school-room 
two  or  three  hours  a  week,  and  put  me  on  horseback. 
It  is  a  relief,  but  no  cure 

Washington,  D.  C,  April  14,  1836*  ....  Thanks 
to  God,  I  am  so  far  on  my  way  toward  a  more  Northern 
home.  The  whole  spell  of  my  life  is  broken ;  the  word 
South,  which  used  to  signify,  to  my  imagination,  nothing 
but  soft  breezes,  beautiful  flowers  and  warm  hearts,  has 
lost  its  power  to  charm,  and  this  entire  change  has  been 
wrought  in  my  mind,  I  can  truly  say,  by  no  want  of 
kindness  and  courtesy  towards  myself  personally,  for 
never  were  more  nattering  attentions  bestowed  upon  me, 
but  by  discovering  that  all  their  thoughts,  and  feelings, 
and  habits,  were  different  from  those  of  the  friends  to 
whom  I  had  bound  myself  by  earlier  attachments,  and 
from  whom,  in  memory  and  affection,  I  have  never  de- 
parted. 

I  am  but  just  able  to  move  about.  For  five  weeks  my 
only  food  has  been  arrowroot,  and  to  that  diet  I  have 
confined  myself  so  rigidly,  that  I  have  not  even  swal- 
lowed a  draught  of  water,  since  the  interdict  was  laid 
upon  me.  I  find  the  whole  difficulty  proceeded  from 
confinement  and  solicitude,  for  I  have  now  been  only 
two  days  from  Raleigh,  and  am  sensibly  better. 

New  York,  May  16,  1836.!  ....  As  soon  as  I  had 
strength  to  move,  I  came  off,  and  reached  this  city  just 
four  weeks  since.     In  the  interim  I  have  been  in  North- 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  Daveis,  Portland. 


206  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [183& 

ampton,  Boston,  Salem,  Lowell,  and  wherever  else  I  could 
find  some  object  either  of  diversion  or  business.  I  am 
now  fixed  in  my  new  vocation,  and  talk  and  lecture, 
three  hours  every  day,  to  a  charming  group  of  young 
ladies.1  ....  It  is  just  the  thing  for  me  at  present,  and 
all  that  I  have  health  and  strength  for,  but  I  shall  not 
long  rest  satisfied  with  so  easy  a  life.2 

Boston,  Sunday,  October  23,  1836*  ....  You  will 
doubtless  be  surprised  when  you  learn  that  I  am  to  em- 
bark for  Europe  on  the  30th  inst.  It  is  a  very  sudden 
decision,  or  I  should  have  told  you  in  person,  and 
spent  a  few  days,  or  hours  of  parting  love  with  you  and 

the  dear  ones  who  belong  to  you I  have  been  led 

to  this  step  from  a  conviction  that  I  could  not  be  in 
health  again  in  any  other  way.     I  have  not  had  a  mo 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  The  three  daughters  of  Mr.  Ward,  faithfully  performed,  morally  too,  it  is  of 
"  My  compensation,"  Mr.  Cogswell  says,  more  importance  than  even  the  professed 
"  is  $2,000  per  annum,  and  I  have  July,  teaching  of  religion,  but  so  thinks  not 
August,  and  September  free,  and  no  ex-  the  world,  and  while  it  does  not,  the 
penses  of  any  kind,  except  clothes,  to  high-minded  instructor  has  a  great  deal 
provide  for.  Mr.  Ward,  who  sets  no  limits  to  bear  in  seeing  how  lightly  his  vocation 
to  his  kindness  towards  me,  is  on  the  is  estimated  by  the  community  generally, 
look  out  for  something  else,  to  fill  up  two  and,  beyond  the  reward  of  an  approving 
or  three  of  my  unoccupied  hours,  which  conscience  he  has  very  little  to  compen- 
I  am  not  willing  to  spend  in  idleness  sate  him  for  all  that  he  has  to  bear  and 
any  longer  than  my  health  requires."  suffer.  I  should  almost  feel  that  I  had 
Mr.  Ward's  three  sons  had  all  been  pu-  lived  in  vain,  but  for  the  sixteen  years  I 
pils  at  Round  Hill.  devoted  to  instruction,  and  if  I  had  any 

2  As  Mr.  Cogswell  never  resumed  the  reliance  upon  good  works  as  a  ground 
position  of  teacher  of  young  men  or  boys,  for  reward  hereafter,  I  should  rest  my 
it  seems  well  to  give  here  an  expression  whole  plea  upon  what  I  did  in  that  pe- 
of  his  feeling  about  the  life  of  a  teacher,  riod.  I  can  truly  say  I  cannot  call  up  a 
contained  in  a  letter  of  June  9,  1844,  single  instance  of  willfully  neglected  duty 
from  him  to  Mr.  Daveis  :  "  In  my  view  to  any  pupil  placed  under  my  charge, 
it  is  the  very  highest  of  all  occupations,  Wherein  I  erred  it  was  always  ignorant- 
and  deserves  to  be  remunerated  beyond  ly,  not  wittingly." 

any  other,  when  its  duties  are  ably  and 


Age  50.]  ANOTHER   VISIT  TO   EUROPE.  207 

merit's  respite  from  suffering  since  I  parted  from  you  in 
September.  Mr.  F.  Gray  made  a  proposition  to  me, 
some  weeks  since,  to  go  abroad  and  spend  the  winter  in 
Rome,  and  the  next  summer  in  Switzerland  with  him.1 
I  declined  it  then,  because  I  had  resolved  not  to  go 
abroad  until  I  sold  Round  Hill,  but  since  then,  my 
health  has  continually  grown  worse,  and  the  prospect  of 
any   immediate   sale    diminished    on  account   of    hard 

times 

It  may  seem  strange  to  you,  my  dear  brother,  but  I 
am  truly  sorry  to  go.  The  anticipation  of  a  winter 
amid  the  ruins  of  almighty  Rome,  and  a  summer  amid 
the  sublimities  of  the  Alps,  does  not  quicken  a  single 
pulsation.  But  I  anticipate  new  life  and  vigor  from  the 
change  of  everything  around  me,  and  the  inhaling  of  the 
balmy  air  of  Italy  and  quaffing  the  mountain  breezes  of 
Switzerland,  and  this  consideration  reconciles  me  to  an 
absence,  which,  in  all  other  respects  is  truly  distressing 
to  me.  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  weakening  the  few 
ties  by  which  I  am  now  bound  to  the  world 

Paris,  February  14,  1837*.  •  •  •  There  are  no   very 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  Mr.  Francis  Calley  Gray,  known  to  with  accurate  information  on  all  sorts  of 
the  present  generation,  almost  solely,  by  subjects,  without  appeal  to  books.  With 
the  valuable  collection  of  engravings  he  characteristic  liberality  he  gave  Mr.  Cogs- 
bequeathed  to  Harvard  College,  was  a  well  at  this  time  "  $3,000  yearly  and  ex- 
man  of  extraordinary  culture,  and  pos-  penses  paid  with  no  other  services  but 
sessed  a  retentive  memory,  which  placed  to  travel  with  and  talk  to  him,"  all  which 
at  his  instant  disposal  the  great  stores  of  was  a  private  arrangement,  known  only 
varied  knowledge  he  had  accumulated  in  to  their  nearest  friends.  He  was  a  son 
a  life  of  leisure  and  prosperity.  He  was  of  Mr.  William  Gray,  the  friend  and 
therefore,  a  most  instructive  and  enter-  patron  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  early  life, 
taining  companion,  furnishing  his  friends 


208  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  I'S37. 

interesting  people  in  Paris  now,  or  at  least,  none  among 
my  acquaintance.  Lamartine,  who  is  certainly  the  first 
among  the  men  of  letters,  has  been  confined  to  his 
room  and  bed  for  two  months.  On  this  account  I  have 
been  unable  to  see  him,  but  have  had  several  pleasant 
notes  from  him,  in  answer  to  those  I  have  written  him 
inquiring  about  his  health.  Chateaubriand,  also,  has 
not  been  in  society  at  all  this  winter,  and  as  to  Victor 
Hugo,  Delavigne,  Dumas  and  Scribe,  the  favorite  dra- 
matic writers  of  the  day,  I  regard  them  all  as  panders 
to  the  most  depraved  taste,  and  have  not  been  willing 
to  cultivate  their  acquaintance,  although  I  used  to  meet 
them  almost  regularly,  on  Wednesday  evenings  at  Baron 
Gerard's.  Money  and  place  are  the  only  great  objects 
of  pursuit  now  in  Paris,  not  rank,  title,  and  fame.  Nei- 
ther of  the  latter  would  give  consequence  to  the  pos- 
sessor, but  money  effects  everything  by  the  display  it 
enables  one  to  make,  and  place  comes  next  in  import- 
ance from  the  power  attached  to  it.  Mere  fame,  par- 
ticularly literary  fame,  unless  it  fills  the  pocket,  seems 
to  be  regarded  very  much  as  a  title  without  fortune, 
altogether  too  remote  from  the  materiel  to  meet  the 
spirit  of  the  age. 

Leghorn,  May,  1837.*.  .  .  .  On  the  morning  of  the 

26th  of  April  I  took  my  last  look  of  St.  Peter's 

On  the  evening  of  the  26th,  we  admired  together  from 
the  terrace  of  the  Palazzo  in  which  we  lodged,  at  Al- 
bano,  as  glorious  a  sunset  as  Claude  ever  colored,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  27th  I  watched  him  alone,  from 

*  To  Miss  Julia  Ward,  New  York. 


Age  50.]  VIE  W  OF  THE   BA  Y  OF  NAPLES.  209 

the  heights  above  Nemi,  as  he  came  forth  in  "  one  un- 
clouded blaze  of  living  light."  The  deep  solitude,  and 
the  solemn  silence  of  this  little  lake  is  its  great  charm, 
and  therefore  I  stole  away  by  dawn  of  light,  when  all 
the  rest  were  slumbering,  to  commune  with  its  con- 
genial spirit.  During  a  walk  of  nine  miles  around  its 
banks,  and  through  its  sacred  grove,  I  met  but  four 
human  beings,  a  veiled  nun,  on  a  donkey,  with  her  at- 
tendant serving  woman,  and  two  dark-eyed,  nectarine-, 
cheeked  peasant  girls  of  Gensano,  gathering  faggots 
in  the  woods.  I  found  a  height  which  commanded 
a  view  of  both  lakes  (see  4th  Canto,  173  and  174 
Strophes),1  and  such  was  the  transcendent  beauty  of 
the  scene,  the  exquisite  loveliness  of  the  morning,  and 
the  grandeur  of  the  recollections  embraced  within  the 
surrounding  horizon,  that,  for  a  few  moments,  I  forgot 
everything  personal,  I  had  no  existence  apart  from  the 

world  of  mind   and  spirit  spread  out  before  me 

On  Saturday  morning,  April  30, 1  rose  with  the  dawn, 
again  to  feast  my  eyes  with  a  view  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful of  bays,2  which  I  had  not  seen  for  seventeen  years. 
Our  lodgings  were  at  Chiaja  which  commands  the 
whole  circuit  of  the  bay,  and  my  windows  looked  di- 
rectly upon  it,  and  it  seemed  marvellously  strange  to 
me,  as  I  surveyed  it,  to  find  how  much  my  admiration 
of  nature  had  increased  with  my  years.  It  now  spread 
before  me  vastly  more  beautiful  than  memory  had  re- 
corded, or   pen  or  pencil   ever  depicted I  have 

taken  great  pains  to  seek  out  every  fine  point  of  view 
around  this  bay,  and  to  fix  these  views  in  my  mind 

1  Childe  Harold.  *  Naples. 

27 


2IO  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['S37- 

From  the  Capo  di  Miscno  to  the  Capo  Campanella, 
there  is  not  a  height  which  I  have  not  ascended,  nor 
an  island  which  I  have  not  visited,  and,  wide  as  is  the 
range,  there  is  not  a  point  in  the  whole  extent,  from 
which  the  view  is  not  surpassingly  beautiful,  but  the 
grandest  of  all  is  from  the  Carthusian  convent  of  the 
Camaldoli  on  the  one  side,  and  from  Monte  St.  Angelo, 
above  Castellamare  on  the  other 

Heidelberg,  August  23,  1837.*  ....  Nothing  in 
Europe  accords  with  my  former  recollections  but  Naples 
and  Switzerland ;  the  unequalled  loveliness  of  nature 
around  that  bay,  and  her  unimagined  grandeur  amid 
the  Alps  alone  have  stood  the  trial  of  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  ardent  admiration  of  youth  and  the  soberer 
contemplation  of  age.  I  took  great  satisfaction  in  dis- 
covering the  warmth  of  my  emotions  in  both  these 
regions,  for  I  had  feared  that  my  heart  had  grown  cold, 
so  different  were  the  impressions  that  other  objects  had 
made  upon  it.  The  pictures  I  had  seen,  always  except- 
ing a  few  of  Raphael's  and  Domenichino's,  had  called 
forth  few  exclamations  of  delight.  The  churches,  pal- 
aces, and  public  buildings  generally  seemed  to  have 
dwindled,  and  even  the  public  libraries,  that  I  used  to 
think  so  immeasurably  great,  were  very  well,  but  nothing 
more.  In  truth  I  do  verily  believe  that  we  are  much 
nearer  to  Europe,  in  everything  desirable,  both  of  nature 
and  art,  than  I  have  allowed  myself  to  think,  and  I 
rejoice  very  much  at  the  new  light  let  into  the  "  soul's 
dark  cottage."     I  shall  love  my  country  a  great  deal 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland 


Age  so.]  FUTURE   OF  EUROPE.  211 

more  since  I  have  learned  to  respect  her  so  much  more 
highly,  and  shall  no  longer  fear  to  lay  claim  to  patriot- 
ism. 

My  convictions  are  settled  as  to  Europe's  future  con- 
dition. She  has  certainly  gone  through  the  gradations 
of  "  wealth,  vice,  corruption,"  and  no  doubt  there  must 
follow  the  "  barbarism  at  last,"  unless  the  regenerating 
influence  of  Freedom  should  intervene,  which  did  not 
precede  her  glory.  It  is  not  possible  that  the  millions 
should  go  on  suffering  without  an  effort  and,  sooner  or 
later,  a  successful  effort  for  relief,  and  if,  before  the 
struggle  terminates,  Christianity  should  have  more 
nearly  wrought  her  perfect  work,  and  vice  and  despot- 
ism fall  together,  civil  liberty  may  be  universally  estab- 
lished  

I  am  most  unreasonable  not  to  like  Europe  better 
than  ever,  for  all  the  circumstances  of  my  present  visit 
to  it  have  been  so  ordered  that  I  have  enjoyed  the  most 
possible.  I  have  visited  the  countries  I  could  have 
most  wished  to  see,  and  been  with  the  friends  most 
agreeable  to  me,  and  had  a  very  pleasant  companion 
in  all  my  journeyings 


CHAPTER    XX. 

Life  in  New  York.  —  Home  with  Mr.  S.  Ward,  1837-1840.  —  Ac- 
quaintance with  Mr.  Astor.  —  Plan  for  a  Great  Public  Library.  — 
First  Purchase  of  Books.  —  Fifth  Time  to  Europe.  —  Death  of  Mr. 
Ward.  — Goes  to  live  in  a  House  belonging  to  Mr.  Astor,  and  pre- 
pares Preliminary  Catalogues. 

"DOSTON,  November  io,  1837.*  ....  Everything  at 
-*-^  home  delights  me.  I  never  saw  our  blessed  condi- 
tion with  such  clear  eyes  before,  and  deeply  disastrous 
as  the  recent  course  of  events  may  have  been,  it  is  all 
the  sunshine  of  prosperity  compared  with  what  I  left 
abroad ;  and  is  it  not  a  new  ground  of  confidence  in  our 
race  and  in  free  institutions,  that  men  intrusted  with  self- 
government  so  readily  and  so  surely  retrace  their  steps, 
when  they  come  to  the  brink  to  which  a  wrong  path 
leads  ?  I  have  done  nothing  but  preach  hope  and  con- 
fidence in  republics,  wherever  I  have  been  in  Boston,  to 
which  even  the  desponding  listen  with  some  satisfaction, 

and  in.  which  a  few  join  heartily 

You  must  not  imagine  that  I  am  starting  for  a  politi- 
cian, but  I  confess  I  feel  a  new  consciousness  of  the 
high  moral  obligation  upon  every  citizen  of  a  free  coun- 
try, to  know  and  practice  his  civil  duties,  and  conse- 
quently, an  interest  in  political  affairs  that  I  have  not  be- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  5i]  MEETS  MR.    AS  TOR.  2  IT, 

fore  felt,  since  the  days  of  Federal  and  Democratic  con- 
flicts. 


New  York,  January  2,  1838.*  ....  During  my 
present  visit  to  New  York  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  old 
Mr.  Astor,  having  dined  with  him  twice  at  his  own 
house,  and  three  times  at  his  son's.  He  is  not  the  mere 
accumulator  of  dollars,  as  I  had  supposed  him  ;  he  talks 
well  on  many  subjects  and  shows  a  great  interest  in  the 
arts  and  literature.  I  meet  Halleck  there  often,  and  some 
other  pleasant  visitors.1 

New  York,  January  31,  1838.!  I  am  still  an  idler, 
not  so  much  from  choice  as  from  necessity.2  Mr.  Ward 
will  not  let  me  go  away  from  New  York,  telling  me 
every  day  that  I  shall  soon  be  wanted  here,  and  that  I 
must  wait  patiently,  which  I  would  do  most  willingly,  if 
I  knew  how  to  be  idle,  for  I  have  every  comfort  and 
kindness  that  can  be  desired.3    I  have  refused  an  offer  of 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor,  Paris. 

1  The  following  from  the  same  letter  my  future  occupation."  He  now  adds  ; 
is  a  little  reminder  of  the  changes  in  the  "  I  say  I  am  an  idler  because  I  have  no 
city  of  New  York  :  "  Yesterday  was  my  fixed  occupation.  I  make  myself  busy, 
first  New  Year's  day  in  the  city  of  New  however,  whenever  I  can  get  a  chance, 

Amsterdam We  started  from  the  and  I   am  now  at  work  upon  some  lec- 

house  in  the  carriage,  at  eleven  in  the  tures  which  I  have  been  invited  to  de- 
morning,  and  drove  down  to  the  Battery,  liver  at  the  Stuyvesant  Institute."  On 
and  made  our  first  assaults  in  the  vicinity  the  21st  of  April  he  writes  to  Gilman 
of  the  Bowling  Green  and  the  lower  end  Daveis  :  "  Being  gazetted  for  a  lecture 
of  Broadway."    ....  in  New  York   on  the  6th  of  April  I  was 

2  He  had  written  five  weeks  before,  obliged  to  return  in  season  for  it.  About 
from  New  York  :  "  I  have  been  every-  said  lecture  it  does  not  become  me  to 
where  since  my  return,  and  as  yet  done  speak.  I  sent  your  father  the  America*: 
nothing.  Northampton,  Portland,  and  of  the  next  day  which  told  a  flattering 
Boston  have  been  my  principal  resting-  tale  of  its  success." 

places,  and  I  am  now  here  to  decide  upon        3  In  Mr.  Ward's  house. 


214  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1838. 

the  Presidency  of  a  Southern  College,  with  the  salary  of 
$2,500,  received  last  week,  because  I  could  not  bring  my- 
self to  think,  that  any  consideration,  but  health,  could 
justify  me  in  a  voluntary  adoption  of  the  life  and  habits 
of  a  Carolinian I  have  received  one  fee  for  pro- 
fessional services  since  my  return,  that  keeps  me  in 
pocket  money,  so  I  do  not  want  for  bonbons ;  old  Mr. 
Astor  gave  me  a  commission  to  execute  for  him  in  Bos- 
ton, which  cost  me  a  week's  time,  and  gave  me  a  week's 
pleasure,  as  time  spent  in  Boston  always  is  to  me.  On 
my  return  he  sent  me  a  check  for  $500.  This  shows 
that  he  was  satisfied  with  my  agency,  and  I  trust  he  will 
find  other  services  for  me  to  perform.  If  I  understand 
his  movements  aright  I  shall  be  called  upon  to  aid  in 
one  of  no  small  magnitude 

New  York,  June  20,  1838.*  ....  I  doubt  not  you 
will  agree  with  me  in  thinking  that  the  great  charm  of  a 
city  is  the  opportunity  of  enjoying  society  ;  that  alone 
in  my  view,  compensates  for  its  various  evils,  its  inces- 
sant noise,  the  loss  of  green  fields,  the  circumscribed 
view  of  the  heavens,  the  thousand  ceremonies  to  be  gone 
through  and  the  thousand  privations  to  be  submitted  to. 
Besides,  I  love  to  cultivate  the  feeling  which  keeps 
my  heart  open  and  warm,  and  fills  it  with  kindness  for 
the  whole  family  of  man.  Fashionable  society  —  and 
all  social  intercourse  is  more  or  less  so  —  is  subjected 
to  a  multitude  of  unnecessary  and  ridiculous  laws,  but 
with  all  that,  I  prefer  it  to  solitude,  either  in  town  or 
country ;  in  fact  it  is  as  salutary  to  my  moral  health  as 
pure  air  is  to  my  bodily 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott. 


Age  si.]  CHARMS   OF  ROUND  HILL.  215 

I  was  in  Northampton  through  the  whole  month  of 
May,  very  ill  and  dispirited  the  early  part  of  it,  but  when 
the  Spring  burst  forth  in  its  beauty  and  freshness,  I 
could  not  resist  its  influences,  my  spirits  seemed  to  be 
set  free  with  the  opening  buds,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  joy 
of  reanimated  nature.  Never  in  my  life  did  I  look  upon 
such  a  gay  scene,  in  still  life,  as  spread  before  me  from  the 
windows  of  my  Round  Hill  chateau  when  the  trees  came 
out  in  full  bloom.  It  quite  won  my  heart  back  again  to 
Round  Hill,  and  almost  decided  me  to  make  it  my  home 
for  life.  And  then  I  should  have  a  home,  and  what 
more  chilling  thought  to  one  of  my  age,  to  be,  as  I  now 
am,  without  a  home.  Do  not  reprove  me  with  ingrati- 
tude to  friends  here.  Mr.  Ward  tells  me  every  day  that 
his  house  is  my  home,  and  the  children  all  join  in  the 
wish  that  it  should  be  so,  and  refuse  to  hear  a  word  from 
me  about  leaving  them,  and  for  all  this  kindness,  there  is 
no  want  of  gratitude.  Still  I  cannot  change  the  char- 
acter which  life  has  stamped  upon  me.  I  cannot  be  in- 
active, when  activity  heretofore  has  been  to  me  the 
pleasure  of  existence. 

I  know  not  how  you  heard  of  my  intended  visit  to 
the  Virginia  Springs.  There  was,  however,  a  good 
foundation  for  the  report.  I  left  Northampton  with 
that  expectation  more  than  a  fortnight  since,  and  should 
have  gone  on  without  delay,  but  I  had  written  a  few 
things  for  the  "  New  York  Review,"  :  and  found  it  neces- 
sary to  see  them  through   the  press,  and  while   I  was 

1  Various  book  notices  and  an  article  Education,  and  he,  no  doubt,  contributed 

of  forty-five  pages  on   National  Educa-  otherwise  to  its  pages  from  time  to  time, 

tion.     In  1S40  another  long  article  of  his  but  no  record  has  been  found  to  show 

appeared  in  this   Review,  on  University  what  was  his. 


2l6  JOSEPH    GREEN  COGSWELL.  I1838. 

doing  this,  that  delicious  warm  weather  came  on,  and 
so  thoroughly  restored  me,  that  I  had  nothing  to  go 
to  the  Springs  for. 


New  York,  July  20,  1838*.  ...  I  must  tell  you  a 
word  of  what  I  have  been  about  for  some  months  past, 
or  you  may  think  I  have  been  wasting  time.  Early  in 
January  Mr.  Astor  consulted  me  about  an  appropriation 
of  some  three  or  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which 
he  intended  to  leave  for  public  purposes,  and  I  urged 
him  to  give  it  for  a  library,  which  I  finally  brought  him 
to  agree  to  do,  and  I  have  been  at  work  ever  since, 
settling  all  the  points  which  have  arisen  in  the  progress 
of  the  affair.  It  is  now  so  nearly  arranged  that  he  has 
promised  me  to  sign  the  last  paper  to-day,  and,  if  so, 
I  shall  see  you  in  Boston  early  next  week.  Had  I  not 
foreseen  that  this  object  would  never  have  been  effected 
unless  some  one  had  been  at  the  old  gentleman's  elbow, 
to  push  him  on,  I  should  have  left  New  York  long 
since.  It  is  not  made  public  at  present,  but  I  think  it 
will  be  in  a  week  or  two.  In  the  mean  while  say  nothing 
of  it. 

Newport,  October  8,  1838.*  ....  Since  I  parted 
from  you  I  have  divided  my  time  between  New  York 
and  Newport,  still  suffering  from  my  Northampton  cold, 
and  now  shivering  under  the  influences  of  the  northern 
blasts.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Astor  heard  of  my  being  in 
New  York  he  sent  a  messenger  into  the  city,  to  beg  me 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  52.]  MR.   ASTOR.  217 

to  call  upon  him.  I  went  out  the  next  day  and  found 
him  very  cordial,  but  very  feeble.  I  learnt  that  he  had 
been  beset  by  innumerable  applications  for  money,  in 
all  possible  amounts,  from  five  to  five  thousand  dollars, 
since  his  great  act  of  munificence  had  been  made  known, 
and  that  act  relied  upon,  as  the  ground  of  hope,  in  all 
these  claims.  This  his  own  penetrating  mind  had  fore- 
seen, and  it  had  induced  him  to  change  his  intended 
donation  to  a  legacy.  The  feeble  condition  in  which 
I  found  him  disarmed  me  of  all  power  to  urge  the  mat- 
ter upon  him  at  present,  and  therefore  the  most  I  can 
tell  you  is,  that  there  is  no  fear  about  the  final  result, 
and  no  great  probability  of  any  immediate  steps  in 
effecting  it. 

He  is  desirous  of  having  me  with  him  this  winter, 
and  offers  a  most  liberal  pecuniary  compensation  for  a 
portion  of  my  time,  leaving  me  four  or  five  hours  daily 
at  my  own  disposal.  If  I  accede  to  his  proposal  it  will 
be  in  the  hope  of  advancing  the  great  project,  and 
making  my  time  most  productive  to  those  to  whom  it 
belongs.1  ....  I  do  not  like  the  idea  of  frittering  away 
another  winter  in  New  York.  I  could  do  a  great  deal 
more  for  the  improvement  of  my  own  mind  almost  any- 
where else,  and  I  do  not  like  the  thought  of  eating  any 
man's  bread  without  rendering  him   an   equivalent.     It 

1  About  this   time   he  was  offered  a  ducted  until  it  ceased  to  exist.   He  wrote, 

Vice   Presidency   and    Professorship    in  November    15  :  "  I   did   not  accept  Mr. 

Jefferson    College,    New   Orleans,    with  Astor's  offer  because  Mr.  Ward  showed 

prospect  of  the   Presidency  offered  him  so  much  unwillingness  to  have  me  leave 

earlier  and  now  likely  to  be  again  vacant;  his  home,  and  he  has  conferred  upon  me 

but   he  refused,  by  Mr.  Ward's   advice,  too  many  favors,  for  me  to  find  it  in  my 

and   purchased   an  interest  in  the  New  heart  to  make  him  an  ungrateful  return." 
York  Review,  which   he  afterwards  con- 
28 


2l8  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1839. 

seems  to  me  I  should  be  a  perfectly  happy  man  if  I 
were  a  laborer  on  some  railroad,  and  received  my  six 
shillings  at  night,  for  solid,  substantial,  visible  service. 
I  cannot  understand  how  one  earns  a  compensation, 
when  he  has  no  fruits  of  his  labor  to  appeal  to.  A  law- 
yer that  has  gained  a  cause  for  a  client,  or  a  physi- 
cian that  has  restored  a  patient  to  health,  may  justly  feel 
that  he  has  earned  his  reward  ;  but  the  services  which 
I  am  able  to  perform  are,  either,  of  no  value,  or  of  that 
kind  of  value  not  to  be  paid  for  in  money,  and  this 
is  the  feeling  which  wears  upon  my  spirits,  and  makes 
me  long  for  the  independence  which  most  others  en- 
joy. 

New  York,  January  11,  1839.*  ....  I  felt,  as  I 
walked  down  Broadway,  and  joyed  in  the  bright  sun 
and  genial  warmth  of  this  beautiful  day,  that  I  should 
find  something  at  the  office 1  particularly  agreeable  to 
me,  and  when  I  saw  your  letter  on  my  table  I  knew 
how  to  account  for  the  presentiment.  I  thank  you,  my 
dear  lady,  for  this  new  proof  of  your  kind  interest  in 
me  ;  it  is  the  very  highest  of  my  earthly  sources  of 
happiness  to  find  that  I  have  not  forfeited  the  good 
opinion  and  affections  of  those  whose  friendship  is  most 
dear  to  me 

Touching  the  "  New  York  Review,"  I  must  not  be 
made  accountable  for  much  that  is  in  the  last  number. 
Several  of  the  articles  were  accepted  before  I  became 
connected  with  it,  among  them  that  on  Carlyle.     I  am 

*  To  Mrs.  Prescott,  Boston. 
1  Office  of  the  A'ew  York  Review. 


Age  52.]  THE  "NE  W  YORK  RE  VIE  TV"  2 1 9 

no  admirer  of  Carlyle,  at  the  same  tiem  I  believe  him 
to  be  a  man  of  genius,  and  in  his  earlier  publications 
a  beautiful  writer.  I  know  not  where  the  character  of 
Burns  has  been  so  finely  and  so  truly  sketched  as  by 
him,  nor  where  that  of  Voltaire  has  been  more  faith- 
fully dissected.  My  principle  in  conducting  the  Review 
will  be  to  avoid  personalities  of  every  kind,  and  above 
all  things,  local  and  sectarian  prejudices,  but  on  literary 
subjects  I  would  not  consent  to  any  restrictions  upon 
the  expression  of  independent  opinions.  I  should 
greatly  regret  the  condemnation  by  any  of  my  friends 
of  the  sentiments  contained  in  the  Review,  still  I 
should  hope  that,  in  the  great  variety  of  topics  upon 
which  a  literary  journal  must  touch,  they  would  allow 
some  things  to  pass  which  were  not  entirely  in  accord- 
ance with  their  own  views  on  the  same  subject.  If  no 
such  indulgence  is  granted,  I  see  not  how  it  is  possible 
for  any  journal  to  be  sustained. 

New  York,  March  12,  1839.*  ....  I  am  to  dine 
with  Mr.  Astor  to-day,  tete-a-tete,  to  talk  over  the 
affair  of  the  Library  seriously.  I  went  to  him  on  Sun- 
day, with  a  catalogue  of  some  books  to  be  sold  here 
on  Friday,  some  curious,  rare,  valuable,  etc.,  and  said, 
"  These  are  not  books  to  be  found  every  day,  may  I  not 
attend  the  sale,  and  buy  such  of  them  as  go  reason- 
ably ? "  This  brought  on  a  conversation  about  the 
library,  when  he  asked  me,  if  he  could  put  the  whole 
affair  into  the  hands  of  trustees,  and  be  freed  from  all 
care  and  trouble  about  it.     I  told  him  he  certainly  could, 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


2  20  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1839- 

upon  which  he  said,  "  Come  and  dine  with  me  on  Tues- 
day, and  I  will  try  to  come  to  a  definite  conclusion 
about  the  matter."  I  think  he  is  resolved  to  go  on  with 
it  this  spring. 

New  York,  May  6,  1839*  ....  You  have  greatly 
the  advantage  of  me,  you  know,  in  the  matter  of  cor- 
respondence. Everything  and  everybody  in  your  com- 
munity are  interesting  to  me,  while  I  might  as  well 
talk  to  you  of  the  Japanese,  as  of  the  people  among 
whom  I  dwell.     I  am  therefore  driven  back  to  the  old 

subject  of  the  Astor  Library Well,  I  dined  with 

him  on  the  said  day,1  and  laid  my  proposal  before  him, 
to  which  he  assented  without  objection  or  condition, 
except  that  I  should  agree  to  take  care  of  the  books, 
and  this,  of  course,  I  agreed  to  do.  The  books  went 
high,  and  those  I  most  wanted  were  not  in  the  best 
condition,  so  I  bought  only  a  kw  hundred  dollars 
worth.  Since  then  I  have  advised  him  to  allow  my- 
self, or  some  one  else,  to  buy  books  at  any  time  when 
they  could  be  had,  on  good  terms,  if  suitable  to  the 
library  to  be  formed  by  him,  and  I  have  now  carte 
blancJie  for  so  doing.  I  have  also  told  him  that  it  was 
important  that  a  perfect  system  should  be  drawn  out, 
for  the  completion  of  the  whole  affair,  not  merely,  with 
reference  to  the  library  building,  and  other  accommo- 
dations, but  also  to  mark,  as  distinctly  as  possible,  the 
character  of  the  library  to  be  formed,  and  the  particular 
departments  which  he  would  wish  to  have  most  thor- 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
1  March   12,  the  day  when  the  previous  letter  was  written. 


Age  53]  FIFTH    VOYAGE    TO   EUROPE.  22  1 

ough,  and  even  going  so  far  as  to  make  a  catalogue  of 
that  portion  which  must  necessarily  belong  to  it.  To 
all  this  he  gave  full  assent,  and  requested  me  to  employ 
my  leisure  time,  if  any  such  I  could  find,  upon  the  work. 
Touching  the  building  he  is  waiting  only  for  the  new 
corporation  !  to  enter  upon  their  duties  ....  at  any 
rate  he  has  authorized  me  to  obtain  an  estimate  of 
the  costs  of  such  a  building  as  I  have  proposed  to 
him. 

New  York,  September  5,  1839*  ....  Mr.  W.  B. 
Astor  came  in  yesterday  to  ask  me  if  I  could  leave 
home  for  four  months,  to  see  his  son  well  placed 
abroad.  My  answer  was,  "  if  your  father  will  give  me 
a  commission  to  buy  books  enough  to  make  a  fair 
beginning  for  the  Libraiy,  and  at  the  same  time  author- 
ize me  to  procure  a  plan  abroad,  and  look  into  the 
subject  generally,  I  will  go."  Accordingly  I  have  been 
to  Hellgate  this  morning  to  see  the  old  gentleman,  who 
answered  that  he  was  ready,  and  desirous  of  going  on, 
having  completed  his  new  codicil,  by  which  he  has 
increased  the  appropriation  to  $400,000.  As  yet,  how- 
ever, I  have  no  commission  from  him. 

New  York,  October  8,  1839.!  ....  I  do  not  want 
to  go  to  Europe  a  bit,  and  nothing  would  have  induced 
me  to  undertake  the  expedition  but  the  hope  of  making 
it  operate  to  bring  the  old  gentleman  to  a  decision 
about  the  Library,  and  so  far  I  am  satisfied  ....  as  he 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  The  new  city  government,  elected  but  not  yet  in  office. 


222  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1840. 

has  assured  me  that  he  should  put  $60,000  at  my  dis- 
posal, if  I  saw  fit  to  use  that  amount  in  purchasing  one 
or  two  libraries  now  known  to  be  for  sale  abroad.  As 
yet  I  have  not  got  the  papers  in  hand  signed,  but  he 
read  me  a  letter  yesterday,  directed  to  myself,  in  which 
this  is  clearly  stated. 


Dresden,  Friday  Evening,  January  3,  1840*  My 
dear  Doctor,  —  This  morning  came  our  packet  of  letters 
sent  from  New  York  by  the  British  Queen,  and  with  it 
the  heartrending  intelligence  of  the  death  of  our  dear  Mr. 
Ward,  and  I  need  not  add  that  the  day  has  since  been 
one  of  the  most  sad  and  solemn  of  my  whole  life.  My 
spirit  has  been  with  you  all  and  shared  in  your  sorrows 

as  much  as  if  I  had  been  present  face  to  face But 

the  depth  of  my  sorrow  is  not  for  myself;  my  soul  is 
wrung  with  anguish  for  those  dear  children ;  my  heart 
is  ready  to  burst  with  grief  when  I  think  of  their  suffer- 
ings  I  have  tried  to  find  consolation  in  reflecting 

upon  the  infinite  gain  to  our  departed  friend,  in  having 
exchanged  a  world  of  trial  and  misery  for  one  of  unal- 
loyed happiness.  O  my  dear  Doctor,  what  an  un- 
speakable joy  it  must  have  afforded  him  in  the  trying 
hour,  to  find  a  steadfast  faith  and  a  certain  hope  lighting 
him  through  the  dark  passage  when  everything  else  was 
fading  before  his  eyes 

I  wish,  my  dear  Doctor,  that  I  could  have  some  share 
of  that  satisfaction  which  you  must  feel  in  the  highest 
degree,  of  having  watched  and  waited  by  the  dying  bed 

*  To  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis,  New  York. 


Age  53-]  DEATH  OF  MR.    WARD.  223 

of  so  dear  a  friend  as  Mr.  Ward.  I  know  of  nothing 
so  comforting,  in  reflecting  upon  the  loss  of  a  friend,  as 
the  consciousness  of  having  made  every  effort  to  allevi- 
ate his  sufferings  and  given  all  possible  proof  of  entire 
devotedness  to  him,  and  this  comfort  you  must  enjoy  in 
a  preeminent  degree,  for  in  ordinary  cases  there  is  noth- 
ing like  your  unwearied  solicitude,  and  in  this,  I  am 
sure,  it  must  have  been  unexampled.  I  would  not  de- 
prive you  of  any  of  this  happiness ;  you  deserve  it  all  if 
ever  one  did.  I  only  wish  I  could  have  shared  with  you 
in  the  attentions  which  you  bestowed,  and  which  you 
must  so  rejoice  to  think  upon. 

New  York,  May  27,  1840.*  I  had  a  very  agreeable 
trip  abroad,1  but  I  did  not  succeed  in  one  of  the  great 
objects  for  which  I  went,  the  Boutourlin  Library.  It  was 
brought  to  the  hammer  about  the  time  I  arrived  out,  and 
no  one  whom  I  could  find  had  authority  to  stop  the  sale. 
It  matters  not,  for  we  can  doubtless  obtain  those  parts 
of  it  most  valuable  to  us,  in  this  country,  in  another 
way 

After  I  wrote  to  you  from  Dresden  I  visited  Berlin, 
Gbttingen,  Hamburg,  London  (twice),  and  Paris,  but 
everywhere  my  stay  was  too  short  to  have  full  benefit  of 
the  opportunities  offered  to  me,  of  seeing  persons  and 
things.  In  Berlin,  however,  I  remained  nearly  three 
weeks,  and  saw  as  much  both  of  the  world  of  fash- 
ion and  world  of  letters,  as  could  be  done  in  that  time. 
I  was  there  in  February,  during  the  height  of  their  sea- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 
1  He  was  absent  between  six  and  seven  months. 


224  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1840. 

son,  and  constantly  in  society,  so  that  I  made  myself 
pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  principal  people  of  that 
great  metropolis,  both  in  church  and  state.  It  is  now 
the  first  place  in  Germany,  decidedly,  for  science  and 
literature,  and  next  after  Vienna  for  splendor  and  show. 
It  is  not  a  little  curious  for  an  American,  accustomed  to 
find  society  composed  of  those  who  call  themselves 
scholars,  professional  and  business  men,  all  having  suffi- 
cient leisure  at  command  to  be  thus  appropriated,  to  ob- 
serve the  entire  separation  of  the  savans,  in  a  city  so  full 
of  them  as  Berlin,  from  all  the  fashionable  gatherings 
for  wasting  time.  Humboldt  was  the  only  individual 
of  that  class  I  ever  met  at  any  such  places,  and  he  is 
now  more  of  a  courtier  than  a  man  of  science.  It  is 
not  their  business,  they  say,  and  they  are  perfectly  satis- 
fied to  leave  such  things  to  those  to  whom  they  properly 
belong.  Their  ambition  never  leads  them  to  wish  for 
such  a  distinction.  As  a  stranger  and  traveller  I  was 
desirous  of  seeing  as  much  of  all  classes  as  I  could,  and 
therefore  visited  the  philosophers  in  their  libraries,  when 
they  would  allow  me,  and  the  people  of  the  fashionable 
world  in  the  saloons  when  I  chose.  In  the  way  of  the 
latter  there  is  no  obstacle  ;  a  regular  introduction  to  so- 
ciety by  your  own  legation  gives  you  the  entree  to  every 
soiree  in  the  houses  of  the  ministers  of  state  and  other 

officers  of  the  court I  declined  visiting  his  Majesty, 

because  such  a  visit  would  have  cost  me  a  court  dress  of 
from  $200  to  $300;  but  I  had  divers  interviews  and 
long  talks  with  the  crown  prince,1  and  all  the  other  sons 
of  the  kins: ' 


Later  King  Frederick  William  IV. 


Age  S3.]  PROPOSITION   TO  MR.  AS  TOR.  225 

New  York,  May  27,  1840*  ....  I  spent  Monday 
night  out  at  Hellgate  with  Mr.  Astor,  and  then  laid  be- 
fore him  in  writing  my  project  for  forming  a  catalogue 
of  100,000  volumes,  for  a  well  digested,  systematic  li- 
brary, accompanied  with  the  prices  of  books  according 
to  the  trade  rates,  and  also  as  marked  in  the  lists  of  the 
antiquarian  dealers,  setting  forth,  as  clearly  and  distinctly 
as  I  was  able,  the  utility  and  necessity  of  such  a  cata- 
logue. He  expressed  himself  perfectly  satisfied  with  the 
reasons  given  in  the  document,  and  ready  to  commit  the 
work  to  me,  if  I  would  live  in  his  family,  and  let  him 
have,  as  he  was  pleased  to  consider  it,  the  benefit  of  my 
society.  I  then  proposed  to  reduce  the  matter  to  a  dis- 
tinct question  of  business,  and  offered  him  five  hours  of 
my  time  daily,  for  $1,500  a  year,  with  a  convenient  office 
in  town,  my  regular  business  to  be  working  for  the  li- 
brary in  some  way  or  other,  particularly  on  the  cata- 
logue, and  he  having  the  right  to  an  occasional  appro- 
priation of  an  hour  or  two,  as  he  might  desire.  I  do 
not  like  this  altogether,  but  I  will  submit  to  anything  to 
get  the  main  business  once  nailed,  and  I  know  him  well 
enough  to  say  with  confidence  that,  once  started,  he  will 
be  as  eager  as  one  can  wish,  to  press  on.  I  left  my  prop- 
osition with  him  in  writing,  and  expect  his  answer  from 
day  to  day.  I  have  done  my  duty  in  the  matter,  and 
shall  have  no  occasion  to  reproach  myself,  be  the  result 
what  it  may ;  and  I  am  determined  to  wait  his  move- 
ments no  longer  than  to  give  him  a  reasonable  time  to 
consider  my  proposition. 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
29 


2  26  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1840. 

New  "Y 'ork,  September  15,  1840.*  ....  In  answer  to 
your  inquiry  of  what  I  have  been  about  through  the 
summer,  I  am  ashamed  to  be  obliged  to  say,  very  little. 
I  was  meditating  a  descent  upon  you  in  Boston  early  in 
July,  and  about  the  same  time  Mr.  Astor  had  a  fresh  fit 
of  stirring  in  the  library.  He  got  Irving  there,  and  sent 
for  Brevoort  and  myself  from  day  to  day  for  a  week ;  at 
length  the  whole  thing  was  arranged,  as  I  supposed ;  the 
plan  of  building  was  agreed  upon,  and  I  left  him  on  Sat- 
urday evening,  July  11,  in  full  confidence  that  he  would 
authorize  his  son  William  (who  was  present,  and  ear- 
nestly urged  his  going  on)  to  make  contracts  for  the  ma- 
terials, etc.,  the  next  Monday.  On  that  clay  I  started  for 
Geneseo,  where  I  remained  about  a  fortnight.  On  my 
return  I  found  the  whole  form  knocked  into//.  Upjohn, 
the  architect,  had  been  to  see  him,  and  put  a  notion  of  a 
Gothic  building  into  his  head,  and  the  moment  an  ex- 
cuse was  afforded  him  for  hesitation,  he  yielded  to  what 
has  now  become  the  weakness  of  his  age,  and  shrunk 
from  a  decision. 


Mr.  Cogswell  acceded  to  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Astor, 
and  in  November,  1840,  was  established  in  a  house  ad- 
joining that  gentleman's,  continuing  to  live  thus  until 
Mr.  Astor's  death,  going  with  him  to  the  country  in  the 
summer. 

Eighteen  months  later  another  plan  was  under  consid- 
eration for  a  few  weeks,  which  seemed  likely  to  give  a 
new  and  agreeable  turn  to  Mr.  Cogswell's  life.  An  ac- 
count of  this  is  given  in  the  opening  of  the  next  chapter. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

1842-1848. —  Appointed  and  confirmed  Secretary  of  Legation  to 
Spain.  —  Relinquishes  the  Post  for  the  Sake  of  the  Library.  —  Life 
with  Mr.  Astor  till  his  Death  in  1848.  —  Appointed  Superintendent 
of  the  Astor  Library,  May,  1848. 

AJEW  YORK,  February  14,  1842*  ....  My  dear 
■*■  ^  Ticknor,  —  Irving  is  very  desirous  to  have  me  go 
out  to  Spain  as  his  Secretary  of  Legation,  and  Legare 
writes  me  word  that  I  might  easily  have  the  appoint- 
ment, if  I  had  a  line  of  recommendation  from  you  and 
W.  Prescott,  to  which  I  said  in  reply,  that  I  would  not 
take  it  unless  I  had  merit  enough  of  my  own  to  entitle 
me  to  it;  that  I  would  not  solicit  any  place  from  the 
government,  nor  ask  of  any  of  my  friends  testimonials 
which  they  might  not  think  proper  to  give.1 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  Copies  were  found,  in  a  letter-book  mentioned  to  you  ?  Few  men  in  the 
of  Mr.  Ticknor's,  of  two  letters  from  him  country,  and  perhaps  I  might  add,  few 
to  Mr.  Webster  and  Mr.  Irving,  both  men  out  of  it,  can  be  so  fit  for  such  a 
dated  February  13,  1842,  the  day  before  place  as  he  is.  His  long  and  frequent 
the  above  letter.  Mr.  Cogswell's  name  residences  on  the  Continent,  with  the 
had  been  suggested  in  the  newspapers,  habit  of  speaking  its  most  important 
and  Mr.  Ticknor,  having  seen  it  there,  languages  ;  the  great  amount  of  his  gen- 
wrote  at  once  to  promote  the  appoint-  eral  knowledge,  including  that  of  the  law, 
ment.  To  Mr.  Webster  he  says  :  "  From  his  zeal  in  whatever  he  undertakes,  and 
what  I  have  heard,  the  nomination  of  his  unalterably  good  temper  and  winning 
Secretary  of  Legation  to  Spain  is  ex-  manners,  which  make  friends  to  him 
pected  to  be  made  from  the  Middle  wherever  he  goes,  and  I  may  say  have 
States.  In  that  case  has  Mr.  Cogswell  made  them  in  all  four  quarters  of  the 
of  New  York  occurred  to  you,  or  been  world,  really  seem  to  point   him  out  for 


228  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1842. 

My  particular  object,  now,  in  writing  to  you,  is  to 
ask  your  counsel,  and  I  am  the  more  strongly  moved 
to  this  from  the  conviction  that  you  never  counselled 
me  wrong,  and  that  I  should  now  be  a  great  deal  better 
off  in  all  worldly  concerns,  if  I  had  followed  your  ad- 
vice more   implicitly The    question,  therefore, 

with  me  is,  can  I  do  anything  for  myself,  better  than 
accept  the  proposition  to  go  with  Irving  to  Spain,  if  I 
should  have   the  opportunity,  and   he   is  so  urgent  for 

It  there  is  probably  little  doubt  upon  this  point 

The  secretaryship  has  this  to  recommend  it,  that  it 
brings  with  it  no  pecuniary  risk,  and  that  it  is  both 
pleasant  and  improving.  I  am  inclined  to  go,  you  will 
perceive,  but  I  have  by  no  means  decided  upon  it.  I 
tell  you  frankly  I  shall  place  great  reliance  upon  your 
judgement  in  the  matter.  Please  to  write  me  a  few  lines 
as  soon  as  your  leisure  permits.  With  my  best  love  to 
Mrs.  T.,  and  kind  regards  to  Anna  and  Miss  Wormeley, 
Truly  and  affectionately  yours, 

Joseph  G.  Cogswell. 

such   a   station,   or   rather,  it   gives   me  tary   to  any   continental    legation,   from 

pain  to  say,  for  stations  both  better  and  his  knowledge  of  its  languages,  from  his 

higher.     Of  faults  I  need   not   tell   you  activity   and   zeal,    and   from   the    great 

who  know  him,  he  has  as  few  as  perhaps  store   of  his   acquirements,    I   need   not 

any   man.     Disinterestedness    has   done  speak  to  you.     But  there  is  one  point  on 

him   more   harm   than   all   of  them   put  which  I  feel  I  ought  not  to  be  silent.     I 

together."  have  known  him  familiarly  above  thirty 

To  Mr.   Irving,  after  alluding   to   his  years,  have  travelled  with  him,  and  lived 

nomination  as  Minister,  he  goes  on  :  "I  with  him  months  together,  and  yet  never 

refer  to  the  fact  which  has  just  come  to  saw   him  unreasonably    or   disagreeably 

my    knowledge,  that    Mr.    Cogswell    is  out   of  temper.     Many  others  who  have 

thought  of  as  the  Secretary  of  your  Le-  known   him   much,  have   said  the  same 

gation,  and  if  you  are  aware  how  long  thing.     There  is  nothing  pettish,  or  un- 

I  have  known  him,  and  how  much  I  have  wisely   proud,   or   foolishly   sensitive   in 

been  attached  to  him,  you  will  I  am  sure  him.     He  is  always  pleasant  in  personal 

expect  to  hear  from  me  on  an  occasion  intercourse,   under  all  circumstances,  to 

so   important   to   his  interests.      Of  his  a   degree   which   I   think   I  have  never 

peculiar  fitness  for  the  place  of  Secre-  known  in  any  other  man." 


Age  55-1  SECRETARY  OF  LEGATION.  229 

New  York,  24//;  Febrttary  [1842].*  Not  hearing 
anything  about  the  progress  of  my  proposed  appoint- 
ment, I  have  concluded  that  there  must  be  some  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way.  It  is  reported  here  that  I  am  a 
Van  Buren  man.  I  should  much  sooner  think  of  being 
a  Mormon  or  a  Mahometan. 

Mr.  Irving  has  said  so  much  to  me  of  the  satisfaction 
it  would  give  him  to  have  me  of  the  legation,  and  other 
friends  have  urged  me  so  strongly  to  go  that  I  have 
fully  made  up  my  mind  to  become  a  diplomatist  if  the 
opportunity  is  offered.1  Mr.  Astor  is  very  much  against 
it,  being  very  reluctant  to  have  me  leave  him,  but  that 
I  should  have  done  at  any  rate,  if  he  kept  on  as  unde- 
cided as  ever  about  his  library.  I  am  just  in  from  the 
country,  and  have  not  time  to  add  one  word  more  before 
the  mail  closes. 

New  York,  February  28,  1842.!  ....  I  have  seen 
a  good  deal  of  Dickens,  during  his  visit  here,  although 
I  attended  none  of  the  public  festivities  in  honor  of 
him.  He  does  not  please  me  over-much  as  a  man, 
although  I  am  a  very  warm  admirer  of  his  writings. 
I   do   not  see   that  he  does  anything  particularly  well, 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland.  t  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  In  the  Life  and  Letters  of  Washing-  who,   by   his  various  acquirements,   his 

ton  Irving,   vol.  iii.,   p.   180,  is  the  fol-  prompt  sagacity,    his   knowledge  of  the 

lowing  passage  :  "  Previous  to  the  date  world,   his   habits   of  business,  and   his 

of   this   formal   acceptance,   Mr.    Irving  obliging  disposition,  is  so  calculated  to 

had  intimated  a  desire  to  have  Mr.  Joseph  give  me  that  counsel,  aid,  and  companion- 

G.  Cogswell   appointed  as   Secretary  of  ship  so   important   in   Madrid,   where  a 

Legation.      '  He    is    a    gentleman,'    he  stranger   is   more  isolated   than   in   any 

wrote,  '  with  whom   I  am   on   terms   of  other  capital  of  Europe.' "  • 

confideiftial  intimacy,  and  I  know  no  one 


230  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1842. 

except  writing"  Pickwick  Stories."  His  dinner  speeches, 
his  answers  to  letters,  and  the  like,  are  generally  very 
artificial  and  commonplace.  In  society  he  is  quite 
natural  enough,  and  careless  enough  too.  to  please  any 
Dick  Swiveller,  and  a  good  deal  too  much  so,  I  confess, 
to  please  me 

New  York,  March  10,  1842*.  ...  I  have  been  wait- 
ing for  Mr.  Irving  to  hear  from  Washington,  to  be  able 
to  make  known  to  you  precisely  what  my  movements 
would  be  before  embarking  for  Europe,  but  nothing 
definite  comes  from  there,  and  I  can  delay  no  longer 
to  mark  out  the  course  I  propose  to  myself.1  Mr.  Irving 
wishes  to  go  by  England  and  France,  and,  as  I  do  not, 
I  shall  take  a  little  more  time  at  home,  and  go  direct 
to  Spain.  This  will  reduce  the  cost  of  getting  there, 
and  enable  me  to  delay  my  departure  longer  than  I 
could,  if  I  were  to  start  with  him.  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  leave  New  York  before  the  24th  of  this  month,  as  I 
must  have  the  "  Review "  entirely  off  my  hands  first. 
Then  I  shall  take  a  short  trip  to  Washington,  and  be 
in  Boston  I  hope  by  the  first  of  April.  I  mean  to 
spend  a  week  with  you  at  least,  as  I  do  not  care  to  sail 
before  the  middle  of  April,  even  if  Mr.  I.  should  go  on 
the  1st,  and  that  is  yet  doubtful.  I  would  prefer  to 
remain  until  the  end  of  the  month. 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  The   news   of  his   confirmation   had  this   morning,   as  the   newspaper  notice 

come,  but  they  were  waiting  for  instruc-  did   yesterday.     It   was,   of  course,    not 

tions.     Mr.  Ticknor  wrote  to  Mr.  Uaveis  unexpected,  though  I  was  aware  Cogs- 

on   the   9th,  saying  ;    '■'  Your   letter  an-  well's  own  notions  were  a  little  unsettled 

nouncing   Cogswell's  confirmation  came  by  the  delay." 


Age  55-]  A  SACRIFICE.  23  I 

Mr.  Astor  is  greatly  distressed  at  my  leaving  him, 
thinking  that  for  a  public  object  as  important  as  is  that 
of  the  immediate  execution  of  his  library  plan  I  should 
have  been  justified  in  declining  the  appointment,  as  I 
gave  no  previous  pledge  to  accept.  I  told  him  I  would 
give  up  the  Secretaryship  if  he  would  engage  to  begin 
at  once  upon  the  library,  and  that  unless  he  did  so  I 
should  certainly  accept  it.  All  the  reply  I  got  to  the 
proposition  was,  "  Say  what  consideration  will  induce 
you  to  stay  with  me,  and  leave  the  question  of  the 
library  to  my  future  decision,"  to  which  I  had  but  one 
answer  to  make,  "  None  whatever."  The  matter,  there- 
fore, may  be  considered  as  settled,  and  I  have  not  a 
reproach  to  fear  from  my  own  conscience  that  I  have 
abandoned  the  object  too  soon.  Nothing  short  of  a 
miracle  will  induce  him  to  undertake  it  during  his  life. 

New  York,  March  28,  1842.*  ....  Do  not  cry  out 
upon  me  for  fickleness,  when  you  read  that  I  am  not 
going  to  Spain.     I  have  made  the  sacrifice  of  honors  to 

honor At  the  last' moment  Mr.  Astor  agreed  to 

all  that  I  asked  of  him :  to  go  on  immediately  with  the 
library,  to  guarantee  to  me  the  librarianship  with  a  sal- 
ary of  $2,500  a  year,  as  soon  as  the  building  is  finished, 
and,  in  the  mean  while  $2,000,  while  engaged  upon  the 

catalogue,  or  otherwise  employed If  he  flinches 

now  I  shall  not  have  a  reproach  to  cast  upon  myself,  let 
what  will  happen 

Irving  not  only  consents,  but  fully  approves  what  I 
have  done,  but  he  is  desirous  not  to  have  it  known,  until 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


232  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1842. 

he  has  made  all  arrangements  for  my  substitute,  as  he 
thinks  he  should  be  annoyed  by  applications  for  the 
place.1 


From  this  time  forward  nothing  important  occurred, 
to  vary  the  monotony  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  life  for  six  years. 
No  advance  was  made  toward  the  practical  founding  of 
the  great  library,  and  the  months  rolled  by,  —  unbroken 
except  by  a  trip  to  the  East  or  South  for  a  short  recrea- 
tion and  a  sight  of  familiar  friends,  —  with  less  of  active 
interest  than  any  his  previous  life  had  shown. 

The  letters  of  these  years,  which  he  passed  in  min- 
istering, with  characteristic  kindliness  and  patience,  to 
the  constantly  increasing  needs  of  old  Mr.  Astor,  contain 
little  of  general  value.  They  are  chiefly  filled  with  mat- 
ters of  business  and  the  chit-chat  of  New  York  society, 
into  which  he  was  received  with  a  cordial  welcome. 
Among  its  distinguished  and  cultivated  members,  and  in 
the  family  of  Mr.  Astor,  he  found  friends,  who  continued 
their  kindness  and  attachment  to  him  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  and  became  his  correspondents  when 
he  left  New  York. 


1  On  the   subject   of  this    change    of  with  you  he  has  decided  rightly.    Indeed, 

purpose  we  have  two   expressions  from  as  you  lawyers  say,  it  does  not  lay  in  my 

his  friends  :   "  I  am  sorry,"  writes  after-  mouth  to  speak  otherwise,  for,  while  his 

ward    the    eloquent    Hugh    S.    Legare,  appointment  was  still  doubtful,  I  advised 

"  Cogswell   does   not   go   with  you,  but  him  not  to  accept  it  if  Mr.  Astor  would 

this  appointment  of  his  successor  makes  agree   to  exactly  the  conditions   he   has 

all   possible   amends,   especially   as   the  now  offered  —  conditions  which  I  regard 

motive  of  his  remaining  is,  with  a  view  as  honorable  alike  to  him  and  to  Cogs- 

both  to  the  public  and  to  himself,  of  so  well,   and   which   make   for   Cogswell  a 

much    importance."     Life  of  Irving,  vol.  place  where  he  can  be  much  more  useful 

iii.,  p.  181.     On  the  13th  of  April,  Mr.  than  he  could  be  at  Madrid." 
Ticknor  wrote  to  Mr.  Daveis:  "I  agree 


Age56.]  UNCERTAINTIES.  233 

New  York,  May  3,  1842.*  ....  Immediately  after 
the  1st  of  April  I  began  with  him  [Mr.  Astor]  about 
the  building,  when  he  got  together  architects,  masons, 
contractors,  etc.,  and,  just  as  all  seemed  to  be  going  on 
rightly,  he  got  into  one  of  his  nervous  fits,  and,  as  yet,  I 
have  not  been  able  to  bring  him  back  to  the  work  again. 
Whatever  may  be  the  issue  I  shall  have  nothing  to  re- 
proach myself  with  in  relation  to  it.  I  have  made  a 
sacrifice  of  my  own  pleasure,  comfort,  and  standing  in 
life,  to  secure  this  object  for  the  cause  of  good  learning 
in  our  land,  and  in  no  case  will  its  blood  be  upon  my 
head.1 

I  had  some  misgivings  whether,  in  a  pecuniary  point 
of  view,  it  was  right  for  me  to  accept  the  Secretaryship 
of  Legation,  ....  but  the  pecuniary  consideration  had 
no  respect  to  myself.  When  I  shall  have  rendered  to 
every  man  who  has  placed  confidence  in  me,  his  just 
dues,  I  shall  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow.  Sufficient 
for  my  own  wants,  at  all  times,  is  what  the  day  produces. 
I  would  like  to  reserve  a  little  nook  in  those  beautiful 
Northampton  grounds  for  my  declining  years,  if  it  should 
ever  be  permitted  to  me  to  rest  from  my  labors  here  on 
earth,  but  I  am  so  far  from  anxious  on  that  account  that 
I  do  not  think  of  it  once  a  year. 

Hellgate,  July  25,  1843.!  ....  Nothing  has  done 
me  so  much  good  as  the  refreshing  visit  I  made  to  you, 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  Early  in  1841  he  wrote  :  "There  is  to   have  it  said  that  I  am  a  hanger  on 

one  thing  which  annoys  me  a  good  deal  upon  him  from  mercenary  motives,  which 

in  my  present  relation  to  Mr.  Astor,  —  is  as  false  as  it  is  malicious." 
3° 


234  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1844- 

my  dear  brother.  It  has  renewed  me,  not  in  heart  only, 
but  in  bodily  strength  also,  and  could  I  but  have  ex- 
tended it  a  few  weeks,  I  should  have  been  completely 
built  up  again.  I  left  most  reluctantly,  but  I  knew  that 
I  was  impatiently  expected  by  Mr.  Astor  and,  as  it  turned 
out,  it  was  well  that  I  came.  His  niece,  who,  with  her 
husband,  had  been  staying  with  him  during  my  absence, 
was  obliged  to  leave  the  morning  of  my  return,  and  he 
would  have  been  dreadfully  nervous  if  I  had  not  been 
with  him 

Before  I  left  my  quiet  retreat  here,  where  I  had  every 
possible  comfort  for  an  invalid,  I  thought  I  might  suffer 
a  good  deal  on  the  journey,  from  privation  of  them,  but 
in  this   I  was  most  agreeably  disappointed,   finding  in 

every  resting  place  all  that    I   could  wish I  can 

give  you  no  idea  how  happy  it  made  me  to  be  again  sur- 
rounded by  friends  who  love  me,  and  to  be  constantly 
receiving  the  strongest  proofs  of  their  undiminished  in- 
terest in  me.  I  have  never  had  a  more  gratifying  visit 
to  dear  Portland  friends 

I  am  leading  a  most  idle  life  here  amid  these  shades. 
Mr.  Astor  has  now  no  one  but  myself  to  amuse  him,  and 

I    am   chiefly  occupied   with   doing  that Every 

pleasant  day  we  take  a  steamboat  and  while  away  some 
three  or  four  hours  in  the  inner  or  outer  bay 

Hellgate,  June  9,  Sunday  Evening  [1844].*  .... 
How  is  the  public  pulse  in  relation  to  Texas,  in  your 
quarter  ?  I  fear  the  prospect  of  aggrandizement  to  the 
nation  is  blinding  all  eyes  to  the  iniquity  of  the  meas- 

*  ToC.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


Age  58.]  LIFE   WITH  MR.  AS7 OR.  235 

ure ;  for  my  own  part,  I  am  wholly  and  unqualifiedly 
opposed  to  it.  Even  should  Mexico  give  her  assent  to- 
morrow, it  is  undeniably  a  violation  both  of  the  letter 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and  will  do  more  to 
accelerate  disunion  and  consequent  downfall  of  these 
United  States,  than  any  event  which  could  happen  to 
us.1  .... 

Hellgate,  May  7,  1845.*  •  •  •  •  I  got  back  to  New 
York  just  in  time  for  our  spring  rustication,  and  being 
out  of  town  I  may  not  be  able  to  do  as  much  for  you  in 
the  way  of  looking  up  Spanish    books  forthwith,  as  I 

could  wish I  am  more  confined  than  usual  just 

now,  as  Mr.  Astor  is  particularly  feeble  and  helpless. 
He  thinks  he  can  never  get  out  again 

The  ajaplication  to  me  to  go  to  Missouri  has  been  re- 
newed since  my  return  from  Boston,  and  I  might  have 
been  tempted  to  go  had  Mr.  A.  been  as  well  as  common 
at  this  season.  As  I  had  a  good  reason  for  refusing,  I 
am  content  to  give  up  seeing  the  great  West  for  the 
present. 

My  trip  to  Northampton  and  Boston  quite  built  me 
up,  and  I  shall  be  able  to  keep  both  in  health  and  spirits 
for  many  months  to  come,  by  the  aid  of  a  little  excur- 
sion in  July. 

Hellgate,  July  1,  1845.!  ....  Mr.  Astor  has  been 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  In  the  early  part  of  this  year,  1844,  Conquest  of  Mexico,  which  is  mentioned 
Mr.  Cogswell  wrote  an  article  for  the  in  the  Life  of  Prescott,  with  commenda- 
Methodist  Quarterly  Review,  on  Prescott 's     tion. 


236  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['846. 

so  very  ill  since  we  removed  to  the  country  (May  2),  that 
my  whole  time  has  been  devoted  to  him.  For  several 
weeks  I  sat  with  him  a  greater  part  of  every  night,  and 
of  course  was  good  for  nothing  the  remainder  of  the 
time.  I  have,  however,  kept  an  eye  on  Wiley  and  Put- 
nam's new  importations,  but  have  seen  nothing  of  great 
interest  to  send  for  your  Athenaeum.  Mr.  Astor  is  now 
considerably  better,  and  I  am  determined  to  look  up 
something  to  make  a  parcel  for  you  immediately  after 
the  4th  of  July. 

Baltimore,  February  24,  1846*  ....  Do  not  be 
alarmed  when  you  see  where  I  date  from,  and  conclude 
that  I  am  about  to  slope  into  Texas.  The  fact  is,  I 
found  that  our  wise  heads  at  Washington  were  in  danger 
of  netting  us  into  a  snarl,  and  so  I  started  off,  and  ran 
down  there  to  set  them  right.  Just  as  I  was  upon  the 
point  of  effecting  this,  the  Cambria  news  came  in  and 
threw  us  all  off  the  track.  I  doubt  if  the  late  grand 
move  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  is  going  to  do  us  much  good, 
except  in  one  respect.1  It  will  effectually  stop  the  war- 
cry  here  for  a  time,  the  substitute  for  which  will  be 
"  down  with  the  tariff,"  and  it  now  seems  to  be  generally 
settled  that  it  must  go.  I  talked  some  time  with  Mr. 
Calhoun  on  the  subject,  who  was  much  more  moderate 
and  more  reasonable  than  I  had  supposed.   He  regarded 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


1  The  news  of  this  period  was  of  Sir  question  of  our  Northwestern  boundary. 

Robert  Peel's  change  of  policy  with  re-  A  debate,  consequent   on  the  arrival  of 

gard  to  the  Corn    Laws,    and    of   the  these  items  of  news,  began  in  the  U.  S. 

Queen's   speech,    containing    a    passage  Senate,    on   the   25th    February,   which 

looking  to  an  amicable  settlement  of  the  resulted  in  the  Oregon  Treaty. 


Age  59.]  BALTIMORE  AND  ROUND  HILL.  237 

everything  as   secondary  to  the  war  question,  and  pro- 
fessed himself  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  to  settle  that 

the  right  way 

Being  solicited  by  several  of  my  old  pupils  in  Balti- 
more to  make  them  a  visit,  I  returned  here  on  Satur- 
day, and  they  are  now  cramming  me,  by  way  of  prepara- 
tion for  the  Lenten  fast,  which  begins  to-morrow.  Begin 
when  it  will,  I  am  ready  for  it.  I  have  eaten  canvas- 
backs  and  terrapins  enough  since  I  came  here  to  keep 
me  in  good  case  through  the  forty  days,  however  rigidly 
I  may  keep  the  fast.  It  is  really  a  nice  place,  this  Balti- 
more ;  they  are  a  nice  people,  who  live  in  nice  houses, 
and  have  very  nice  things  to  eat ;  and  then,  too,  it  is 
more  like  Boston  than  any  other  city  in  the  country,  and 
that  adds  greatly  to  the  charm 

Round  Hill,  July  24,  1846.*  ....  I  have  been  in  such 
a  state  of  uncertainty  the  last  fortnight  as  to  the  time  of 
my  departure  from  New  York,  I  did  not  like  to  write, 
lest  I  might  again  be  out  in  my  announcements.  Young 
Bristed,  for  whose  return  from  the  country  I  was  obliged 
to  wait,  reached  Hellgate  on  Wednesday,  and  in  two 
hours  I  was  off;  but  I  had  to  make  a  detour  as  far  as 
Northampton,  to  look  after  my  concerns  here,  particu- 
larly as  there  are  various  projects  on  foot,  in  connection 
with  Round  Hill,  in  which  my  voice  was  to  be  heard 

Round  Hill  never  looked  more  beautiful,  and  I  feel 
quite  tempted  to  come  back  to  this  enchanting  spot.     I 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


238  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1848- 

am  staying    on    the    hill  with   Mr.  Clark,  and  a  single 
night  here  has  quite  revived  me.1 


New  York,  March  29,  1848*  My  dear  Daveis, —  Mr. 
Astor  is  no  more.  He  breathed  his  last  this  morning  at 
nine,  without  a  struggle,  and  apparently  without  pain. 
For  the  last  forty-eight  hours  he  had  been  unable  to 
speak,  and  we  did  not  expect  him  to  hold  out  so  long. 
As  you  may  well  suppose,  I  am  exceedingly  occupied  to- 
day, and  can  write  no  more  until  after  the  funeral,  which 
is  to  be  on  Saturday.  Then  you  will  hear  from  me  more 
particularly.  Yours  ever  most  affectionately, 

Jos.  G.  Cogswell. 


New  York,  April  4,  1848.*  ....  I  am  not  dis- 
appointed as  to  myself.  The  old  gentleman  always 
led  me  to  expect  my  whole  reward  for  my  devotedness 
to  him,  from  my  post  in  the  library,  and  I  want  nothing 
else.  This  institution,  I  trust,  will  be  managed  more 
faithfully  than  public  institutions  generally  are,  and,  so 
far  as  depends  upon  me,  the  trust  shall  be  sacredly 
administered I  have  made  no  arrangements  for 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 

1  He  writes,  October  19,  to  Mr.  Tick-  three  years,  but  even  that  is  far  better 
nor  :  "  Mrs.  Ticknor  will  have  told  you  than  leaving  them  tenantless  and  unpro- 
about  my  sale  of  Round  Hill.  I  am  not  ductive."  On  the  15th  of  February, 
quite  certain  that  the  purchaser  will  be  1847,  he  says  :  "  My  Round  Hill  man  is 
able  to  fulfill  his  engagement.  I  think,  coming  out  brighter  than  I  expected, 
however,  he  will  make  me  the  first  pay-  ....  At  any  rate  I  am  safe  now  .... 
ment  of  ten  per  cent,  and  put  the  build-  his  improvements  will  more  than  com- 
ings in  repair.  Afterward  he  may  not  do  pensate  me  for  delaying  the  sale  to  some 
more  than  pay  me  a  fair  rent,  for  two  or  one  else." 


Age  6i.]   SUPERINTENDENT  OF  ASTOR  LIBRARY.     239 

the  future  and  cannot  do  it  at  present,  as  I  have  all  the 
affairs  of  the  household  to  settle. 


New  York,  May  4,  1848*  ....  It  is  rather  sus- 
picious to  be  always  croaking  about  "  so  much  to  do," 
but,  really,  it  is  no  pretext  with  me  now.  I  have  not 
had  a  leisure  moment  for  the  last  month.  I  am  up  at 
five  every  morning,  and  work  until  I  am  fagged  out 
at  night.  While  the  east  wind  was  blowing  it  was  as 
much  as  I  could  stagger  under.  With  the  balmy  South- 
wester  of  this  morning,  I  could  bear  ten  times  as  much. 
....  We  have  not  come  to  the  library  yet ;  the  other 
concerns  have  been  too  pressing,  and  as  the  mayor  of 
the  city  is  a  trustee  ex  officio,  it  was  not  thought  ex- 
pedient to  call  a  meeting,  until  the  mayor  elect  is  sworn 
in.  He  is  a  loco,  but  a  man  of  education  and  talent. 
It  would  be  a  fine  time  for  buying  books,  if  one  could 
be  in  Europe  now,  I  should  not  like  to  be  away,  how- 
ever, if  the  building  is  begun,  as  it  probably  will  be, 
this  season.  I  am  now  busy  in  my  old  quarters,  by 
day,  the  house  being  taken  by  Mr.  W.  B.  A.  for  the 
use  of  the  executors  and  the  trustees  of  the  Library. 
I  sleep  and  eat  at  his  house.  They  are  all  kindness 
there 

New  York,  May  23,  1848*.  .  .  .  We  had  a  meeting 
of  the  Library  Trustees  on  Saturday,  when  I  was  duly 
constituted  Superintendent,  and  clothed  with  all  the 
powers  thereto  appertaining,  committees  were  ap- 
pointed to  examine  and  report  upon  the  site,  plans,  etc. 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


240  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1S4S. 

We  have  another  meeting  June  1,  which  is  close  at  hand, 
and  it  may  be  that  I  shall  not  be  at  liberty  until  July. 
We  must  wait  until  January  for  our  incorporation,  and 
until  April  next  for  the  land  to  be  free  on  which  we 
are  to  build,  in  the  mean  while  I  shall  be  empowered 
to  buy  books,  and  do  all  preparatory  things  which  can 
safely  be  done  before  we  have   a  corporate  character 

and  a  place  for  our  books I  am  still  very  busy, 

though  pleasantly  so,  as  we  have  now  taken  up  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Library  with  great  spirit 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

1848,  1849.  —  Sixth  Trip  to  Europe.  —  Purchase  of  Books  for  the 
Astor  Library. 

r  I  "HE  period  of  patient  and  uninspiring  preparation 
-*-  was  ended  ;  the  Preliminary  Index  was  to  be  put 
to  practical  use,  and  soon  to  be  outstripped.  Under 
the  exhilarating  influence  of  hope  and  of  the  sym- 
pathetic action  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor  and  the  Trustees 
of  the  Library,  Mr.  Cogswell  entered  on  the  task  of 
actually  organizing  the  institution  so  munificently  en- 
dowed by  the  elder  Mr.  Astor.  For  the  subsequent 
fourteen  years  this  absorbed  all  his  great  energy,  and 
even  to  the  end  of  his  life  was  a  constant  source  of 
interest  and  of  unselfish  exertion.  Four  visits  to  Eu- 
rope and  many  journeys  nearer  home,  he  made  in  the 
service  of  the  Library ;  and  the  work  he  accomplished 
in  the  Alphabetical  Catalogue,  in  the  Analytical  Cata- 
logue, in  the  organization  of  the  Institution,  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  books,  even  to  the  mechanical 
labor  of  placing  them  on  the  shelves,  was  surprising 
for  a  man  who  had  already  passed  his  prime.  The 
scholars  and  men  of  culture  of  our  country  know  what 
is  due  to  him  for  it  all ;  and  the  Trustees  of  the  Astor 
Library  have,  more  than  once,  placed  on  record  their 
31 


242  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1848. 

appreciation  of  this,  in  some  respects,  the  culminating 
work  of  his  life.1 


New  York,  October  23,  1848*  ....  I  am  going  to 
Europe   for  five  or  six  months,  and  am  to  embark  on 

the  15th   of  November My  object  will  be  to  buy 

the  best  and  greatest  number  of  books  suitable  for  the 

nucleus  of  a  great  library This  will  give  me  work 

enough  to  do,  while  the  edifice  is  preparing,  in  making 
out  the  several  catalogues,  which  I  intend  shall  be  on 
the  most  thorough  plan  possible.  While  abroad  I  shall 
look  out  for  the  best  men  to  buy  for  us  when  we  are  in 
full  blast,  see  how  things  are  now  done  in  the  great 
libraries  of  Europe,  look  up  plans  for  our  building, 
in  a  word  do  all  I  can  to  enable  me  to  start  the  Astor 
on  the  most  prudent  and  judicious  plan.2  I  am  exceed- 
ingly happy  that  your  views  are  so  entirely  in  accord- 
ance with  mine  in  relation  to  all  these  matters,  it  gives 
me  great  confidence  in  my  own. 

The  Trustees  pay  my  expenses  and  my  salary  as  if  at 
home.  I  shall  take  with  me  $10,000  of  my  own,  which 
I  have  accepted  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor  for  this  very  pur- 
pose  

London,  December  29,  1848*  ....  It  is  really  pleas- 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  See  Appendixes  D  and  E.  edge    that    important     institution    owes 

-  It  seems  not  inappropriate  to  quote  hardly  less  of  its  character  and  success, 

here  a  passage  from  a  foot-note  in  the  than    it    does   to   the  elder   Mr.  Astor, 

Life  of  Prescott,  where   Mr.  Cogswell  is  whose  munificence  founded  it,  or  to  the 

spoken  of  as  "  the  well  known   head  of  younger    Mr.   Astor,  who   in   the  same 

the  Astor  Library,  New  York,  to  whose  spirit  has  sustained  it  and  increased  its 

disinterestedness,  enthusiasm,  and  knowl-  resources." 


Age  62.I  KIND  FEELING  IN  ENGLAND.  243 

ant  now  for  an  American  to  circulate  among  the  Eng- 
lish, the  feeling  towards  us  is  so  universally  kind,  and 
the  terms  in  which  they  speak  of  us  so  flattering.  I 
have  not  been  able  to  adhere  to  my  resolution  to  keep 
close,  the  civilities  shown  me  have  been  such  as  I  could 
not  decline  without  rudeness.  Mr.  Hallam,  Mr.  Mil- 
man,  and  several  others  on  whom  I  had  no  claim,  have 
called  on  me  and  sent  me  invitations  to  which  there 
could  be  no  answer  but  an  acceptance. 

Your  letter  to  Rogers,1  which  is  the  only  letter  of 
introduction  that  I  have  delivered  in  London,  has  called 
forth  from  him  every  conceivable  kindness,  although 
I  did  not  deliver  it  until  I  had  been  here  nearly  a  fort- 
night. He  has  since  sent  me  four  invitations  to  break- 
fast, one  to  tea,  and  ended  at  last  by  saying,  "  Come  to 
me  as  often  as  you  can,  I  invite  you  for  any  day  you 
are  not  engaged."  But  at  this  season  of  the  year  it 
makes  a  terrible  inroad  upon  the  daylight  hours  to 
spend  two  or  three  of  them  at  the  breakfast  table,  de- 
lightful as  he  makes  them,  and  I  am  compelled  to  forego 
a  pleasure  that  I  should  prefer  to   any  other  if  I   had 

leisure  to  enjoy  it I   have  devoted    the  greater 

part  of  the  four  weeks  I  have  been  in  London  to  the 
inspection  of  books  and  catalogues,  making  acquaint- 
ance with  booksellers,  and  attending  book  auctions,  and 
am  now  prepared  to  deal  with  them  as  one  of  their 
craft.  I  go  out  as  early  as  anybody  is  stirring  in  this 
place  of  clouds,  fogs,  and  darkness,  and  reconnoitre  the 
book-shops,  collect  catalogues,  compare  prices,  and, 
when  I  come  upon  anything  nice  and  at  the  same  time 

1  Samuel   Rogers,  author  of  Pleasures  of  Memory,  etc. 


244  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1849- 

cheap,  I  buy  it  and  order  it  to  Rich's,  where  I  have  a 
grand  deposit  in  a  house  adjoining  his.  In  work  of 
this  kind  I  spend  all  the  hours  of  demi-daylight,  for 
as  you  know,  at  this  season  there  is  no  entire  sunlight 

in  London I  never  spend  less  than  twelve  hours 

daily  on  my  work.  I  have  the  entree  of  the  British 
Museum,  whenever  it  is  open,  and  an  invitation,  for 
the  regular  two  months,  to  the  Athenaeum  Club,  but 
I  have  not,  as  yet,  been  able  to  avail  myself  of  these 
privileges  to  any  great  extent. 


A  letter  which  Mr.  Cogswell  addressed  about  this 
time  to  the  Editor  of  the  "  Literary  World "  (New 
York),  and  which  was  published  in  that  paper,1  is  of 
such  a  character  that  some  extracts  from  it  seem  suit- 
able to  be  reprinted  here. 

London,  January  26,  1849. 
My  dear  Sir,  —  There  is  no  place  where  time  is  more 
precious  than  in  this  large  metropolis,  and  you  must  give 
me  the  credit  of  being  very  generous  if  I  spare  you  a 
half  hour  for  a  little  rambling  talk  about  books.  In 
truth  I  could  talk  about  nothing  else  at  present,  for  dur- 
ing the  last  two  months  not  an  idea  has  entered  my  head, 
that  was  not  associated  with  them,  and  this  you  must 
understand  in  the  material  and  not  in  the  spiritual  sense. 
I  have  had  thousands  and  thousands  of  volumes  on  hand 
without  finding  time  to  read  a  single  page  of  one,  not 
even  of  Macaulay's  eloquent  history.     If,  therefore,  you 

1  Literary  World,  edited  by  E.  A.  Duyckinck,  vol.  iv.,  No.  108,  p.  169. 


Age  62.]    ATTENDING  BOOK  SALES  IN  LONDON.     245 

have  none  of  the  spirit  of  a  bibliophile,  stop  here  and 
throw  this  letter  into  the  fire,  it  will  prove  as  dull  to  you 
as  a  sermon.  I  reached  London  on  the  evening  of  the 
27th  of  November,  and  since  that  time  I  have  spent  all 
the  daylight  hours  of  every  day  in  book-hunting  and 
book-buying,  and  all  the  evening  hours  in  seeing  what  I 
had  done  and  what  I  should  do  next.  Many  of  the  book- 
sellers here  have  immense  stocks,  and  one  must  labor 
very  diligently  and  examine  very  carefully  to  know  how 
to  buy  to  the  best  advantage ;  it  is  a  very  easy  thing  to 
buy  books  by  order,  and  then  you  will  pay  you  scarcely 
know  how  much,  but  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  select  for 
yourself  and  settle  prices  beforehand.  I  would  not  im- 
ply that  the  London  booksellers  do  not  deal  fairly  and 
openly;  so  far  from  it,  I  have  found  them  uniformly  up- 
right and  honorable  ;  but  then  they  all  have  more  or  less 
stock  on  hand  in  the  old  book  department1  which  they 
are  anxious  to  dispose  of,  on  the  best  terms  they  can. 
Books  in  the  trade,  as  you  know,  have  a  fixed  price  ;  but 
when  they  have  passed  into  the  other  class,  they  are  sold 
cheaper  or  dearer  as  they  may  happen  to  have  cost  the 
holder  of  them,  and  this  makes  a  wide  range  in  prices. 

The  sale  of  the  Stowe  Library  during  my  stay  in 
London  has  afforded  me  a  fine  opportunity  for  learning 
the  booksellers'  estimate  of  the  value  of  books,  partic- 
ularly of  the  more  important  ones.  These  sales,  as  you 
doubtless  know,  are  attended  principally  by  booksellers, 
and  it  is  rare  that  they  allow  a  book  to  be  sold  for  less 
than  two  thirds  of  its  shop  price,  unless  it  is  one  that  is 

1  Note  by  Mr.  Cogswell  :  "  One  house  more  than  half  a  million  volumes,  as  well 
as  I  can  judge  by  computing  them." 


246  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1849. 

wholly  decried.  It  would  surprise  a  person  who  has 
been  accustomed  to  see  the  crowds  which  attend  our 
common  New  York  sales,  to  find  how  few  are  present  at 
a  London  sale,  even  an  important  one  like  that  of  the 
Duke  which  is  now  going  on.  I  have  attended  regu- 
larly, and  never  seen  a  company  of  more  than  sixty, 
generally  about  half  that  number,  and  everything  is 
done  so  quietly  here,  there  is  some  comfort  in  witnessing 

the  execution 

The  Stowe  Library  has  disappointed  me ;  it  is  in  no 
respect  what  I  expected  to  find  it:  the  books  are  neither 
carefully  chosen  nor  are  they  in  good  condition.  One 
would  infer  that  it  had  had  very  little  attention  from  any 
one  of  late,  from  the  many  broken  and  incomplete  sets 
it  contained  ;  the  serials  particularly  show  this  neglect ; 
none  of  them  are  brought  down  to  the  present  time,  and 
in  all,  one  or  more  volumes  are  missing.  As  a  collection, 
its  great  feature  was,  that  it  had  no  distinctive  character, 
not  having  been  formed  with  reference  to  science,  or  his- 
tory, or  general  literature,  or  any  other  department  of 
learning,  and  still  less  as  a  well  selected- general  library ; 
nor  was  it  rich  in  vellum  or  large  paper  copies,  or  in 
incunabula,  or  in  any  of  the  book  collectors'  common 
fancies  ;  in  a  word,  if  we  except  English  county  history 
and  topography,  in  which  it  was  tolerably  full,  it  was 
more  like  the  unsold  stock  of  a  large  bookseller  from 
which  the  best  books  had  been  culled,  than  like  the 
library  of  a  noble  duke,  and  most  unlike  the  Althorp 
Library,  of  which  I  shall  take  occasion  to  say  a  few 
words  before  I  close.  Having  said  much  in  disparagement 
of  the  Buckingham  Library,  I  must  make  some  amends 


Age  62]  PURCHASE  OF  RARE  BOOKS.  247 

and  confess  that  it  did  contain  a  few  precious  treasures, 
and  am  happy  to  add  that  some  of  the  best  of  them  are 
following  the  course  of  Empire  westward.  New  York  or 
Providence  gets  the  Hariot's  "Virginia,"  which  sold  for 
sixty-three  pounds  sterling,  thus  far  the  highest  priced 
single  volume  of  the  collection  —  the  "De  Bry,"  which  is 
in  fine  condition  and  fetched  eighty-one  pounds,  and  the 
"  Epistola  Christofori  Colom,"  the  mighty  quarto  of  three 
leaves,  and  liber  rarissimus,  which  sold  for  fifteen  pounds 
and  five  shillings,  have  also  the  same  destination.  The 
Astor  Library  gets  the  princeps  "  Homer,"  which  sold  for 
twenty-nine  pounds,  a  less  sum  than  any  copy  has  been 
known  to  fetch  for  a  long  while.  On  getting  possession 
of  it,  I  could  not  but  call  to  mind  Petrarch's  eloquent 
apostrophe  to  the  "  illustrious  bard,"  as  reported  by  Gib- 
bon, when  the  Byzantine  Ambassador  presented  him 
with  a  manuscript  copy  ;  and  something  of  the  same 
veneration  which  he  there  confesses,  induced  me  to  de- 
viate from  my  rule  and  buy  a  book  at  a  great  price,  be- 
cause it  is  a  first  edition.  There  are  but  two  other  first 
editions  which  I  am  very  anxious  to  have  for  the  Astor 
Library :  one  is  the  "  Mazarin  Bible,"  which  I  despair  of 
obtaining,  the  other  "  Shakspeare,"  which  I  am  resolved 
to  have.1  As  books,  these  are  my  three  objects  of  ven- 
eration, and  I  mean  to  speak  of  the  Bible  with  all  rever- 
ence, when  I  connect  it  with  anything  human,  as  a  book 
merely,  and  not  as  the  volume  of  inspiration.  To  re- 
turn to  the  Stowe  Library ;  besides  the  treasures  above 
specified,  it  had  many  beautiful  volumes  of  prints,  proof 

1  He  did  obtain  the  First  Folio,  being     1633.      See   Catalogue,  or  Alphabetical 
the  6rst  collected  Edition,  London,  1623,     Index  of  Astor  Library,  1861. 
and  the  Second  Impression  of  the  same, 


248  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1849. 

impressions  ;  a  "  Caxton  "  or  two,  several  "  Wynkyn  de 
Wordes,"  fine  large  paper  copies  of  the  early  English 
monkish  historians  and  the  old  chroniclers,  and  divers 
richly  bound  books  in  old  French  red  morocco,  which 
sold  high  for  their  coats  alone,  of  all  of  which  you  will 
have  specimens  in  New  York,  as  many  were  bought  to 
be  sent  there.  In  my  selections,  I  am  governed  more 
by  intrinsic  value  than  by  the  accident  of  rarity,  believ- 
ing that  the  Astor  Library  should  be  a  learned  and  a 
useful  one,  rather  than  a  mere  museum  of  curiosities,  and 
in  so  doing  I  am  acting  in  conformity  with  my  instruc- 
tions from  the  Trustees.  I  am  happy  to  state  to  you 
that  the  Library  is  now  growing  rapidly.  We  already 
number  on  our  catalogue  above  ten  thousand  volumes ; 
among  them  many  costly  works,  of  which  few  or  no 
copies  as  yet  are  found  in  our  libraries,  —  such  as  Lord 
Kingsborough's  "  Mexican  Antiquities,"  now  complete 
in  nine  folio  volumes,  with  many  hundred  beautifully 
colored  plates  ;  Sylvester's  great  work,  the  "  Paleographie 
Universelle,"  in  four  atlas  folios,  containing  three  hun- 
dred "  Facsimiles  d'Ecritures  de  tous  les  peuples  de  tous 
les  temps,"  illuminated  from  the  missals  and  other  an- 
cient documents  ;  Sibthorp's  "  Flora  Graeca,"  in  ten  vol- 
umes folio,  with  one  thousand  richly  colored  plates ; 
Lambert's  "  Genus  Pinus,"  Rosellini's  "  Monumenti  del 
Egitto,"  and  most  of  the  recent  important  publications 
on  Ethnology,  Paleontology,  and  the  other  scientific  sub- 
jects, which  are  now  exciting  the  deepest  interest. 
Works  on  Architecture  and  the  Arts  generally  form  an- 
other class,  from  which  large  selections  are  made  ;  in  fact 
I  think  I  may  say  that  no  one  department  of  learning  has 


Age  62.]  ALTHORP.  249 

been  overlooked  in  laying  the  foundation  for  a  library, 
which,  I  trust,  will  one  day  have  all  its  chasms  completely 
filled  up. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  Althorp  Library,  and 
as  I  have  recently  made  a  visit  to  it,  you  may  like  to 
have  some  account  of  it  from  me,  however  familiar  you 
may  be  with  the  "  Bibliotheca  Spenceriana  "  and  "/Edes 
Althorpianae  "  of  Dibdin.  Althorp,  as  you  doubtless 
know,  is  one  of  Lord  Spencer's  country  residences, 
about  five  miles  from  Northampton,  and  seventy-two 
from  London,  or  as  distances  are  now  marked,  it  is 
three  hours  from  the  metropolis  by  rail,  with  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  more  for  the  five  mile  footing.  The 
country  between  Northampton  and  Althorp  is  not  par- 
ticularly striking,  but  it  was  certainly  pleasant  to  enjoy 
an  old  fashioned  drive,  sitting  in  an  open  carriage  drawn 
by  horses,  with  an  opportunity  of  seeing  things  by  the 
roadside,  and  not  have  them  flit  past  you  like  spectres  ; 
it  was  pleasant,  too,  to  look  upon  the  green  fields,  as 
green  as  ours  in  June,  and  see  the  men  at  work  plough- 
ing the  long  furrows  as  cheerily  as  if  spring  were  back 
again.  It  was  most  refreshing  also  to  breathe  the  fresh 
air  of  the  country,  after  being  cooped  up  two  months 
in  the  smoky  atmosphere  of  London.  But  I  must  on 
to  the  park  ;  it  is  very  spacious  and  grand,  adorned  here 
and  there  with  a  fine  old  far-stretching  oak  or  a  stately 
elm,  varied  with  clumps  of  evergreens  or  smaller  trees  ; 
the  drive  through  it  to  the  house  is  half  a  mile  or  more, 
winding  amid  a  lawn  as  clean  as  a  parlor  carpet.  The 
house  has  nothing  imposing  in  its  external  aspect,  and 
is  in  no  particular  style  of  architecture  ;  but  in  passing 
r- 


250  yOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  lim- 

its threshold,  one  feels  that  he  is  standing  on  holy 
ground,  and  would  almost  instinctively  put  off  his  shoes 
from  his  feet.  I  read  Dibdin  in  my  young  days,  and 
from  him  learnt  to  regard  the  Spencer  Library  with 
nearly  the  same  veneration  I  entertain  for  the  Vatican, 
and  the  feeling  came  back  upon  me  in  its  full  strength, 
when  I  found  myself  within  it.  Knowing  that  I  had 
allotted  but  one  day  to  the  inspection  of  the  library, 
Mr.  Appleyard  the  librarian,  who  was  all  courtesy  and 
kindness,  proposed  to  begin  our  work  at  once.  The 
library  is  distributed  through  various  rooms  in  the 
house,  eight  altogether  I  think,  several  of  which  are 
very  large  ;  the  first  in  order  is  the  room  of  the  Incu- 
nabula, which  is  devoted  entirely  to  editions  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  and  works  inseparable  from  them.  This 
room  is  larger  than  a  common  sized  parlor  in  New 
York,  and  is  completely  full.  And  here,  indeed,  are 
the  things  which  the  prophets  and  kings  of  literature 
might  well  desire  to  see,  some  of  which  can  be  seen 
in  no  other  library  in  the  world.1  .... 

I  would  like  to  say  a  few  words  about  things  in  Eng- 
land generally.  I  would  like  to  have  it  known  at  home, 
that  every  possible  disposition  has  been  shown  here  to 
facilitate  the  great  object  of  my  visit  —  everything  I 
have  asked  for  has  been  granted  me  without  hesitation  ; 
many  gentlemen  on  whom  I  had  not  the  slightest  claims 
have  bestowed  upon  me  hours  and  hours  of  their  time, 
in  helping  me  to  form  catalogues  of  books  in  the  special 

1  Here   follows   a   minute   account   of  information  it  conveys  is  either  possessed 

the  treasures    of    the   Althorp    Library,  by,  or  accessible   to   all   who  would  be 

which  does  not  belong  to  the  personal  interested  in  it 
narrative  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  life,  and  the 


Age  62.]      ASSISTANCE  FROM  MEN  OF  SCIENCE.         25  I 

department  of  science  to  which  they  were  devoted,  or 
in  examining  buildings  which  had  some  improvement 
important  to  be  known ;  in  these  and  in  various  other 
ways  has  a  spirit  of  uniform  kindness  been  manifested 
towards  America,  —  for  I  regard  none  of  this  as  per- 
sonal to  myself,  it  is  to  me  as  the  representative  of  a 
great  Institution  of  our  country.  You  know  how  men 
of  science  are  sparing  of  their  time,  and  it  may  surprise 
you  to  hear,  that  in  several  instances,  after  an  accidental 
introduction  at  a  party  to  some  celebrite,  I  have  in- 
quired of  him  what  were  the  great  books  in  his  depart- 
ment, and  had  for  answer,  "  Come  and  breakfast  with 
me  the  first  day  you  are  at  leisure,  and  we  will  talk  over 
the  whole  matter,"  this  has  repeatedly  given  me  three 
or  four  hours  of  the  valuable  time  of  the  inviter.  If  it 
were  not  wrong  to  publish  anything  of  another,  even 
praise,  without  his  knowledge  and  consent,  I  would 
name  several  individuals  who  have  done  this.  I  have 
now  been  two  months  in  London,  and  not  an  illnatured 
or  discourteous  word  has  been  addressed  to  me  by  either 
high  or  low.  J.  G.  C. 

Paris,  February  22,  1849.*  Here  I  am  at  last,  my 
dear  T.  I  arrived  on  Monday  morning  at  six,  from 
Brussels,  where  I  spent  three  days,  having  left  London 
on  Thursday  afternoon.  I  went  to  Brussels  mainly  to 
get  a  book  for  Prescott,  which  I  could  not  get  through 

the  booksellers Paris  seems  to  me  triste,  I  hardly 

know  why,  but  there  is  evidently  no  gayety  left  in  the 
hearts  of  the    Parisians.     But,  really,   I  have  been  too 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


252  JOSEPH    GREEN  COGSWELL.  1 1S49. 

busy  to   form   any  judgment  about  these  things 

There  is  a  strange  contrast  to  me  between  Paris  and 
London.  In  the  latter  everything  went  well,  during 
my  three  months'  residence  there,  not  a  single  thing 
occurred  to  put  me  out  of  humor,  and  here  it  is  just 
the  reverse.  I  feel  like  the  man  in  the  story  who  hated 
the  French  because  they  wear  wooden  shoes. 

New  York,  June  28,  1849.*  ....  I  have  unpacked, 
ticked  off,  and  arranged  all  our  books  yet  arrived,  and 
there  are  not  more  than  ten  boxes  behind.  We  have 
now  passed  one  hundred.  They  mostly  come  out  in 
fine  condition,  and  are  the  admiration  of  all  beholders, 
these  being  chiefly  myself  and  one  Mr.  Patrick  Gafney 
who  has  become  an  exceedingly  bookish  man.  It  has 
been  hard  work,  but  it  will  be  a  good  deal  done  in  an- 
ticipation. As  to  my  trip  to  Boston  I  cannot  fix  the 
time  quite  yet.  Our  library  plan  is  not  definitively 
fixed  upon,  and  will  not  be  until  after  the  4th  of  July.1 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  A  private  house  in   Bond  Street  was  season,   once  to  Mrs.  Astor's  place  for 

used  for   storing  the  books.     Mr.  Cogs-  two  nights,   and  once  to   Rockaway  for 

well  attended  to  all  the  details  of  con-  one.      I   measure   exactly   seven    inches 

tracts,  specifications,  etc.,  for  the  Library,  less  in  girth  than  when  I  arrived  from 

and  wrote  at  the  end  of  the  summer  :  "  I  Europe  ;  my  London  coats  hang  on  me 

have  left  the  city  but  twice  during  the  like  meal-bags." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

1850-1853.  — Seventh  Trip  to  Europe.  —  Rome,  Stockholm,  and  Co- 
penhagen. —  Eighth  Trip  to  Europe. 

AJEW  YORK,  August  16,  1850.*  ....  I  am  really 
^  waspish  this  morning  and  I  avow  it,  being  enough 
of  a  Romanist  to  find  some  relief  in  confession  from 
the  upbraidings  of  a  guilty  conscience.  I  made  my 
arrangements  to  set  out  for  the  Cliffs  x  this  very  day, 
and  expected  at  this  time  to  be  well  on  my  way 
thitherward,  but  the  wet  weather  of  the  week  has  an- 
nihilated all  my  fine  fancies At  any  rate,  I  am 

to  make  you  a  visit  before  I  start  for  Europe  ;  and  as 
the  arrangement  now  is,  I  shall  have  abundant  time  for 
it.  The  Trustees  did  not  make  a  quorum  at  the  last  reg- 
ular meeting,  July  31,  but  the  matter  was  talked  over  by 
the  members  present,  and  an  unanimous  opinion  ex- 
pressed that  I  must  go,  and  equally  unanimous  that  I 

must  not  stay  over  four,  or  at  most  five  months I 

have  made  up  my  mind,  therefore,  not  to  start  before 
New  Year  s. 

Every  day  is  important  to  me  in  ascertaining  the 
wants  of  the  country  as  to  books  for  a  public  library,  and 
I  see  enough  has  been  gained,  already,  by  delaying  my 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 
1  At  Manchester,  Mass.,  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ticknor  were  passing  the  summer. 


254  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1851. 

visit  abroad,  in  relation  to  the  work  I  have  in  hand,  to 
rejoice  that  the  delay  was  made  necessary  by  the  exten- 
sion of  the  time  for  erecting  the  library  edifice. 

I  have  not  lost  an  hour,  since  I  came  from  Europe,  to 

the  library  and  its  interests Books,  books,  books, 

everlastingly  books,  I  am  sure  you  will  exclaim 

Do  you  know  I  have  not  been  below  Bond  Street  but 
once  since  the  1st  day  of  July,  and  that  was  to  call  on 
Sir  H.  Bulwer  with  Mr.  Astor.  Is  not  that  oyster  life 
enough  for  any  one  ? 

London,  March  28,  1851*  ....  All  London  will 
have  to  escape  to  the  house-tops  soon,  or  be  drowned,  if 
the  rain  does  not  stop  at  once.  Such  a  wet  time  was 
never  known,  says  the  oldest  inhabitant,  since  the  days 
of  Noe  the  righteous  man ;  and  I  can  confirm  the  as- 
sertion, as  far  as  my  experience  goes.  It  is  now  my  sev- 
enteenth day  here,  every  one  of  which  has  been  a  rainy 
one I  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Royal  Soci- 
ety last  evening,  when  a  paper  on  this  subject,  from  Pro- 
fessor Airy,  was  read 

I  have  spent  all  my  time  in  book-hunting,  conse- 
quently have  not  much  to  tell  you  of  anything  else 

I  have  seen  poor,  dear  old  Mr.  -Rogers.  He  cannot  stand 
upon  his  feet,  but  sits  at  the  table  in  a  big  chair ;  and  by 
the  aid  of  a  sort  of  pulpit  shelf,  raised  nearly  to  his  chin, 
he  contrives  to  get  his  food  to  his  mouth.  All  you  see 
of  him  is  his  pallid  face,  if  possible  more  pallid  than 
ever,  but  his  mind  was  never  brighter  nor  his  conversa- 
tion more  pleasant,  instructive,  and  oracular He 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age64]  scarcity  of  books.  255 

does  not  see  as  many  persons  at  a  time  as  he  used  to  do, 
but  continues  his  breakfasts  with  a  company  of  three  or 

four 

At  Madame  Bunsen's  soiree  on  Friday  evening  I  met 
a  great  number  of  your  old  friends,  among  them  Dr. 
Whewell,  who  made  very  particular  inquiries  after  you. 
....  The  soiree  was  a  crowded,  but  far  from  being  a 

brilliant  one,  in  point  of  beauty  I  mean If  we 

could  but  send  to  this  World's  Exhibition  well  chosen 
specimens  of  our  American  beauties,  I  am  sure  we 
should  get  the  prize  against  all  the  world. 

Paris,  April '22,  1 851.*.  ...  I  have  been  here  just  a  fort- 
night, and  am  to  be  off  for  Italy  to-morrow  morning 

I  am  surprised  to  find  how  scarce  books  are ;  whether 
it  is  that  after  forming  a  collection  of  30,000  volumes, 
the  difficulty  of  collecting  increases,  or  that  it  is  in  real- 
ity, as  the  booksellers,  both  in  London  and  here,  all  say, 
the  good  books  have  gone  to  America ;  or  whatever 
else  may  be  the  reason,  the  fact  is  books,  such  books,  I 
mean,  as  are  desirable  for  a  library  are  both  scarce  and 
dear 

Amsterdam,  June  3,  185  i.t  ....  I  have  just  come  from 
the  land  of  confessions,  and  cannot  help  making  two  to 
you,  at  the  beginning  of  my  letter.  I  was  eight  days  in 
Rome,  and  did  not  go  to  see  the  Transfiguration,  and 
one  night  in  Lucca  without  a  sight  of  the  Fra  Bartolo- 
meos.  Now  if  this  stamps  me  as  too  great  a  vandal  for 
you  to  tolerate,  throw  the  letter  into  the  fire,  and  deny 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


256  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [,s5I. 

that  you  ever  knew  the  wretch.  But,  as  you  may  possi- 
bly read  farther,  I  will  just  observe  that  I  did  not  go  to 
Italy  to  look  at  your  Raffaelle's,  Correggio's,  and  stuff,  but 
just  to  buy  books,  and  that  was  enough.  And  just  by 
way  of  showing  you  what  can  be  done  in  six  weeks,  my 
dear  lady,  I  will  trace  out  for  your  edification  my  carle 
de  route  from  Paris  to  this  place,  and  what  was  done  by 
the  way. 

Wednesday,  23d,  off  from  Paris  at  half-past  8,  a.  m. — 
Railed  to  Tonnerre ;  passed  by  Fontainebleau,  and  did 
not  go  to  see  Mrs.  Burns,  and  tonnerred  enough  because 
I  couldn't  go  ;  diligenced  from  Tonnerre  to  Chalons-sur- 
Saone,  and  tonnerred  again   because  I  could  not  get  to 

sleep  the  whole  night  long At  Avignon   learnt 

that  there  would  be  no  steamer  until  Monday  afternoon, 
which  gave  us  time  to  see  Orange,  Pont  du  Garde, 
Nismes,  Aries,  etc.,  which  I  might  have  thought  some- 
thing of,  if  I  had  never  seen  the  triumphal  arches  raised 
to  General  Jackson,  the  High  Bridge,  the  Bowery  Thea- 
tre, and  the  Boston  Court  House Spent  the  30th 

in  Genoa,  and  not  finding  any  books,  wasted  my  time 
among  pictures  and  palaces  ;  and  as  to  their  famous 
Stradas,  Balbi,  Nuova,  and  Nuovissima,  they  are  not  to  be 
compared  to  Broadway  in  New  York,  or  Purchase  Street 
in  Boston.  At  6  p.  m.  steamed  off  again,  glad  to  get 
away  from  an  Italian  city  that  had  no   booksellers,  and 

was  filled  with  fleas,  fiddlers,  and  filagree  work 

When  I  could  do  no  more  in  my  line  [in  Florence], 
having  a  leisure  hour  or  two,  I  looked  in  at  the  Pitti 
Gallery,  and  at  Powers'  Studio.  At  the  latter  I  saw  noth- 
ing very  wonderful.      His  statuary  has  the  finish  ad  un- 


Age64.]  AT  ROME.  257 

guem  in  a  very  extraordinary  degree,  otherwise  it  does 
not  seem  to  me  great ;  he  is  now  at  work  upon  a  fig- 
ure, emblematic,  as  he  says,  of  California ;  I  should 
never  have  divined  what  it  was  intended  for,  and  that  is 
not  saying  much  to  his  discredit,  for  whoever  did  find 
out  what  the  Genius  of  any  river,  state,  country,  moun- 
tain, or  city  was,  without  being  told.  Afterwards  I  went 
to  Greenough's  studio  to  see  his  group  for  Washington, 
and  really  I  think  it  is  grand,  far,  very  far  superior  to 
any  piece  of  American  sculpture  I  have  seen,  —  better 
conceived,  more  of  action  and  life,  and  more  artistic  in 
execution 

The  residue  of  us  a  reached  Rome  in  safety  on  the 
9th,  just  in  time  for  a  sunset  view  from  the  Pincian  Hill. 
St.  Peter's  and  St.  Angelo  still  rose  on  the  view  as  ma- 
jestically as  ever,  but  there  were  few  or  none  of  those 
towering  pines  which  marked  the  site  of  the  Villa  Doria 
Pamfili,  and,  turning  round  the  terrace,  I  found  they  had 
also  disappeared  from  the  Villa  Borghese.  They  were 
too  towering,  too  aristocratic  for  republican  Rome,  they 
had  fallen  as  foes  to  liberty.  For  the  first  time  of  my 
several  visits  to  Rome,  I  wanted  to  get  out  of  it.  I 
could  not  bear  to  see  it  in  the  possession  of  a  foreign 
soldiery,  or  to  think  that,  but  for  that  foreign  soldiery,  it 
was  liable,  at  any  moment,  to  be  more  terribly  devastated 
than  it  ever  was  by  the  Goth 

In  forty  days  we  have  gone  nearly  3,000  miles,  having 
stopt  twenty-four  days  in  different  places.  Don't  say 
we  are  lazy  travellers. 

1  Mr.  W.  Astor,  Jr.,  accompanied  Mr.  Cogswell  on  this  tour. 


258  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1851. 

Hamburg, August 5, 1S51*  MydearT., —  Thank  God 
I've  got  safe  out  of  Scandinavia.  Not  that  I  did  not 
have  a  delightful  visit  and  a  kind  reception  there  ;  but 
then  it  was  so  cold,  and  the  aspect  of  everything  is  so 
cheerless,  it  quite  deprived  me  of  the  power  of  enjoying 
anything.  Both  Frank  l  and  his  wife  were  unwearied  in 
their  efforts  to  make  my  visit  to  them  comfortable  and 
agreeable,  and  I  was  quite  ashamed  of  myself  that  I 
could  not  be  more  sensible  to  their  kindness.  I  was 
highly  gratified,  as  you  will  readily  imagine,  to  find 
Schroeder  maintaining  the  highest  character  both  with 
the  Swedish  government  and  with  his  brother  diplomats, 
as  well  officially  as  personally.  It  was  gratifying  to  my 
feelings  as  a  friend  of  Schroeder's  and  to  my  pride  as  an 
American ;  for  it  was  manifest  he  was  universally  re- 
spected. I  found  there  another  old  acquaintance,  Mr. 
Gevers,  the  Dutch  Minister,  whom  I  had  known  inti- 
mately in  New  York,  and  through  him  and  Frank  I  soon 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  whole  diplomatic  corps. 

When  I  left  Hamburg  on  the  1st  of  July,  I  thought  I 
might  get  as  far  as  St.  Petersburg,  but,  finding  the  sea- 
son so  cold  and  the  effect  upon  me  so  unfavorable,  I 
concluded  to  give  it  up,  and  was  not  sorry  to  have  a  good 
reason  for  so  doing.  It  is  not  a  very  great  place  for 
books,  and,  except  that  the  duplicates  of  the  Imperial 
library  are  now  selling,  I  could  have  done  but  little  in 

my  line 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


1  Francis  Schroeder,  Esq.,  then  Minis-     Mr.   Cogswell's   successor    as    Superin- 
ter   from  the  United  States  to  Sweden,     tendent  of  the  Astor  Library, 
once  a  pupil  at  Round  Hill,  and  later 


Age 6s.]  THE    THORWALDSEN  MUSEUM.  259 

It  would  be  worth  all  that  it  costs,  both  of  time,  money, 
and  comfort,  to  get  to  Copenhagen,  to  see  the  Thorwald- 
sen  Museum,  even  if  that  alone  were  worth  seeing  there. 
It  has  given  me  a  new  idea  of  his  genius  as  a  sculptor. 
Certainly  none  since  Michael  Angelo,  is  to  be  compared 
with  him.  And  what  a  glorious  monument  it  is  for  one 
to  have;  to  be  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  edifice,  in 
which  are  collected  the  labors  of  one's  life,  and  those 
works  all  within  sight,  it  may  be  said,  of  the  marble 
which  covers  the  mortal  remains  of  the  artist's  body. 
Taken  altogether,  it  is  without  a  parallel,  and  Copen- 
hagen may  well  boast  of  having  honored  its  greatest  ge- 
nius beyond,  and  more  appropriately  than  any  one  was 
ever  honored  before  elsewhere 

New  York,  January  7,  1852.*  I  have  not  replied  by 
letter  to  your  kind  invite,  because  I  hoped  I  might  be 
able  to  reply  in  person.  Now  that  I  have  cleared  away 
the  accumulated  piles  of  my  ten  months'  absence,1  I 
begin  to  understand  a  little  better  when  I  can  take  a 
few  days'  recess.  My  accounts  are  first  to  be  made  up 
and  examined,  and  a  report  prepared  for  the  Assembly, 
which  must  be  made  in  all  January,  and  until  that  is 
done  I  shall  be  tied  here.  Early  in  February  you  may 
count  upon  seeing  me. 

....  For  the  Library  I  have  collected  more  than 
25,000  volumes,  but  precisely  how  many  more  I  cannot 
say,  as  the  binders  often  reduce  two  volumes  to  one. 
The  cost  is  about  $30,000,  and  in   the  collection  there 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 
1  He  had  returned  home  in  November,  1S51. 


260  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  1 1852. 

are  many  works  costing  from  £20  to  ^"ioo.  I  am  afraid 
you  will  think  I  do  more  for  science  than  for  literature, 
and  this  I  must  do  in  amount  of  money  expended, 
scientific  works,  particularly  modern  ones,  are  so  very 
costly.  But  I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  claims 
of  literature,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  buying 
a  good  book  in  that  department,  when  I  could  get  it 
on  fair  terms. 

New  York,  November  17,  1852.*  At  length  the  sig- 
nal is  up  for  sailing,  my  passage  is  engaged  on  the 
Pacific,  on  the  27th  inst,  and  I  shall  have  the  satisfac- 
tion of  knowing  that  I  do  not  go  without  due  prepara- 
tion. I  have  put  all  things  in  such  a  condition  that 
I  can  begin  the  transfer  of  our  books  to  the  new  library 
in  an  hour  after  I  return 

If  I  could  possibly  squeeze  out  three  days  I  would 
run  on  and  see  you  for  a  few  hours.  The  Trustees 
meeting,  on  Wednesday  next,  makes  this  impossible. 
I  deliver  over  to  them  a  complete  list  of  every  book 
in  the  Library,  and  those  not  on  the  printed  Index 
exceed  eight  thousand  written  Titles,  which,  however, 
are  short,  as  they  will  not  long  be  of  any  use  in  that 
form 

New  York,  November  30,  [1852].!  ....  After  all  I 
am  not  ready,  and  do  not  go  to-day  because  I  am  not. 
Last  evening  at  ten,  I  completed  the  work  which  has 
been  a  regular  task  work  for  the  last  three  months,  that 
of  a  thorough  revision  of  all  our  books,  having  taken 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor. 


Age  66.]  EIGHTH  TRIP   TO   EUROPE.  26 1 

every  one  down  from  the  shelves  with  my  own  hands, 
compared  them  with  our  lists,  entered  them  when  not 
already  entered,  and  then  returned  them  to  their  places. 
As  we  have  nearly,  or  perhaps  quite  60,000  volumes, 
it  was  no  small  job.  Thank  God  it  is  done,  done  faith- 
fully, no  shamming,  and  I  am  still  alive.  Had  I  an- 
ticipated the  amount  of  labor,  I  should  have  shrunk 
from  it. 

....  I  do  not  say  when  I  shall  go,  but  the  moment  I 
am  entirely  ready,  I  shall  say  "  Good-by  Library,  —  good- 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Astor,"  jump  into  a  carriage  with  my 
carpet  bag,  drive  to  the  pier,  and  step  into  the  first 
steamer,  or  packet  I  find  on  its  way  to  England.  And 
that  is  the  way  I  like  to  do  things  without  either  fuss 
or  feathers 

I  have  no  time  for  expressing  my  sorrow.1  If  I  had 
I  would  tell  you  how  much  I  grieve  at  the  loss  of  the 
greatest  man  our  country  has  produced,  and  of  the  sad 
forebodings  to  its  future  peace  which  the  loss  of  such 
a  directing  mind  gives  me 

London,  December  28,  1852.*  ...  .  I  really  begin  to 
be  sick  of  the  very  sight  of  books.  They  cut  me  off 
from  every  other  pleasure  in  life,  —  and  then  only  tanta- 
lize me  with  their  exteriors,  without  allowing  me  time 
to  refresh  my  mind  with  their  contents.  When  I  go 
my  rounds  I  always  find,  in  every  shop,  a  huge  pile  on 
the  tables  for  me  to  select  from,  and  it  often  happens, 
as   it  did  in  two   instances  to-day,  that  out  of  several 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 
1  At  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster. 


262  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1853- 

hundred  volumes  I  do  not  find  one,  worth  having,  which 

I  had  not   previously  bought It   is  a  very  hard, 

dirty,  disagreeable  work,  but  I  must  go  through  with 
it,  or  confess  that  with  age  I  have  lost  all  energy. 

....  On  Sunday  morning  I  went  to  Twickenham 
to  pass  the  day  and  night.  That  part  of  the  banks  of 
the  Thames  is  still  as  famous  as  it  was  in  Pope's  time. 
Tennyson's  house  is  next  on  one  side  to  the  one  in 
which  I  stayed ;  Van  Arteveldt  Taylor's  on  the  other, 
and  Turner,  the  artist,  died  in  the  one  in  the  rear  of  it. 
The  day  was  so  mild  that  we  strolled  for  hours  along 
the   river,  and,  for  a  wonder  we  were  not  driven  home 

by  the   rain I   have  dined  once  or  twice  with 

companies  of  "  representative  men,"  such  as  Sir  C. 
Wood,  Bernal  Osborne,  Lord  Mahon,  and  heard  plenty 
of  talk  about  the  new  coalition.  The  word  is  so  odious 
to  me  that  I  got  away  from  the  table  as  soon  as  I  could, 
and  joined  the  ladies  in  the  drawing-room,  and  there, 
oh  horrors!  they  were  discussing  the  merits  of  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin."  ....  I  have  seen  Lady  Lyell  but  not 
Sir  Charles.  They  had  everything  delightful  in  their 
ship,  and  we  had  everything  disagreeable  in  ours,  and 
they  arrived  the  next  morning  after  us.  So  much  for 
my  first  sacrifice  to  nationalism 

New  York,  March  26,  1853*  ....  You  will  see  by 
the  place  from  which  I  date,  that  I  am  once  more  safe 
on  this  side  of  the  great  pond.  The  passage  home  was 
every  way  comfortable  and  in  all  respects  better  than 
my  outward  one 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  66.]  RETURN  TO   NEW    YORK.  263 

I  might  have  taken  a  fortnight  longer,  had  I  known 
how  things  were  here.  The  books  are  more  than  half 
moved  over  to  the  new  building,  and  the  rest  may  easily 

be  got  out  in  a  week It  was  the  hardest  three 

months  I  have  had  since  I  began  the  work,  but  it  has 
not  brought  me  down  a  bit,  on  the  contrary  I  am  much 
better  than  I  was  when  I  left  New  York  in  November. 
My  last  visit  in  London  was  one  of  such  incessant  pres- 
sure I  had  no  time  to  see  a  single  friend 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

1S54-1S56.  —  Life    and   Labors  in   the  Astor  Library.  —  Occasional 
Trips  to  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Boston. 

"VfEW  YORK,  January  18,  [1854.]*  ....  The  Li- 
^  ^  brary  has  been  open  now  about  ten  days,  and  har- 
assing days  they  have  been  to  me,  —  one  unbroken 
string  of  questions  from  morning  till  night,  requiring 
constant  and  wearying  repetition  of  the  same  answers. 
At  nine  a.  m.  I  take  my  stand  inside  the  railing  and 
there  I  remain  as  a  fixture  until  half-past  four.  They  all 
look  wishfully  at  the  books  and  ask  "  Can't  we  go  into  the 
alcoves  and  up  to  the  second  story,"  and  when  I  answer 
"  No  "  they  break  out  into  a  railing  accusation.  But  it's 
no  use,  I  tell  them  "  You  can't  do  it."  I  know  not  what 
I  should  have  done  if  I  had  not  hit  upon  this  plan  of  a 
close  corporation.  It  would  have  crazed  me  to  have 
seen  a  crowd  ranging  lawlessly  among  the  books,  and 
throwing  everything  into  confusion 

New  York,  February  24,  1854.*  ....  Everything 
goes  on  very  smoothly  among  the  habitues  of  the  library. 
The  readers  average  from  one  to  two  hundred  daily,  and 
they  read  excellent  books,  except  the  young  fry,  who  em- 
ploy all  the  hours  they  are  out  of  school  in  reading  the 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


Age  67/]  RULING  FASS10N.  265 

trashy,  as  Scott,  Cooper,  Dickens,  Punch,  and  the  "  Illus- 
trated News."  Even  this  is  better  than  spinning  street 
yarns,  and  as  long  as  they  continue  perfectly  orderly  and 
quiet,  as  they  now  are,  I  shall  not  object  to  their  amusing 
themselves  with  poor  books 

New  York,  March  2,  1854*  ....  We  are  getting  to 
be  too  crowded,  especially  after  noon.  There  is  nothing 
to  be  done  by  way  of  relief,  but  to  raise  the  minimum 
age  to  seventeen,  as  I  wanted  it  to  be  fixed  at  first. 
There  is  no  use  in  having  lots  of  boys  here,  reading 
translations  of  their  Latin  and  Greek  books,  and  novels. 
I  never  want  to  see  a  reader  who  does  not  come  for  a 
valuable  purpose 

New  York,  November  28,  1854.!  ,  .  .  .  I  begin  to  feel 
weary  of  one  ceaseless  round  of  work.  I  want  leisure 
to  see  my  friends,  and  convince  them  that  my  heart  has 
not  become  callous  to  every  kind  affection.  It  is  really 
disheartening  to  feel  on  waking  every  morning  that  one 
has  not  even  a  little  quarter  of  an  hour  of  unappropri- 
ated time.  It  is  out  of  the  question  for  me  to  be  here 
and  not  give  my  whole  time  to  the  Library.  Not  that  it 
is  absolutely  necessary,  but  it  has  so  become  my  ruling 
passion  that  as  long  as  I  am  in  sight  of  the  building  I 
cannot  rest  without  being  in  it  and  at  work 

New  York,  April  11,  1855.!  ....  Yesterday  I  could 
scarcely  lift  my  head  from  my  pillow,  and  this  bright, 
beautiful  morning  brings  me  back  to  life  again.     If  you 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor.  t  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 

34 


266  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1855- 

had  heard  Mr.  Irving's  commiserations,  as  he  stood  be- 
side my  couch  in  the  little  room  of  the  Library,  you 
would  have  concluded  that  I  was  never  expected  to  rise 
from    it,  and  if  you  were  to  see  me  as  I  am   now  you 

would    say  I   must    have    been    playing   possum 

When  I  last  wrote  you  I  was  just  starting  off  in  pursuit 
of  a  milder  sky  and  balmier  breezes.  On  my  way  South 
I  stopt  for  two  days  at  Bordentown,1  and  there  the  rest, 
and  the  quiet  and  freedom  from  care  wrought  such  a 
change  that  I  should  have  turned  about  and  gone  back, 
but  for  Mr.  Ingraham's  great  book-sale  which  allured  me 
on  to  Philadelphia.  It  was  a  wonderful  collection. 
Amidst  a  vast  deal  of  rubbish,  a  few  real  gems  were 
scattered  here  and  there,  and  just  enough  of  them  to 
keep  up  the  temptation.  When  I  felt  wearied  with  at- 
tending the  sale,  and  was  about  to  leave,  I  discovered 
something  a  page  or  two  ahead,  which  I  thought  I  must 

stop  for,  and  so  it  was  for  three  mortal  long  days 

It  was  idle  to  think  of  travelling  for  health  after  doing 
what  I  had  done  during  the  week,  so  on  Saturday  even- 
ing I  packed  up  and  returned  to  Bordentown,  and  on  the 
following  Monday  to  New  York. 

New  York,  Attgiist  15,  1855*  ....  I  have  not  ac- 
knowledged the  receipt  of  your  gift,  it  is  just  the  thing 
I  most  wanted,  my  papers  are  constantly  scattered  for 
want  of  one,  that  is  one  more.  As  long  as  I  live,  dear 
Mrs.  Burns,  it  shall  never  be  removed  from  my  writing 
table.     Not  that  I  need  anything  "  to  remind  me  of  the 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 

1  Where  Mrs.  Adolphe  Mailliard, —  him  always  with  the  affection  of  a  daugh- 
formerly   Miss   Annie   Ward  —  received     ter. 


Age69.1  sadness  of  autumn.  267 

week  passed  in  Newport."  When  all  other  things  shall 
have  faded  from  my  recollection  that  will  still  have  lost 
none  of  its  original  brightness.  You  remember  Dr. 
Franklin's  assurance  to  Madam  Turgot,  about  begging 
for  an  hour's  delay  if  he  were  summoned  to  Paradise  ; 
in  reference  to  Newport  I  would  say  a  great  deal  more 
and  with  a  great  deal  more  truth  ;  if  I  were  received  into 
Paradise,  the  remembrance  of  Newport  would  make  me 
cry  out  with  Kailyal,  — 

"  Take  me  to  earth,  O  gentle  Deveta, 
Take  me  again  to  earth." 

....  To  add  one  to  your  collection  of  autographs  I 
send  a  note,  on  shabby  paper,  from  the  Princess  Prossedi, 
nee  Charlotte  Bonaparte,  fille  ainee  de  Lucien ;  it  was 
written,  as  you  will  see  by  the  date,  many  years  ago, 
when  I  was  younger  than  I  am  now,  —  then  I  had  quali- 
ties to  command  friends,  now  that  I  am  old,  I  know  not 
how  to  be  grateful  enough  to  those  who  tolerate  me 

Baltimore,  October  18,  1855*  ....  The  weather  for 
the  most  part  has  been  delightful,  and  but  for  the  dying 
hues  of  Autumn  it  would  be  refreshing  to  be  whirled 
along  through  field  and  wood,  and  catch  a  passing  glance 
at  the  piled  up  harvest  heaps,  and  like  proofs  of  abun- 
dance and  comfort  to  be  seen  everywhere  by  the  road- 
side. I  never  could  look  upon  the  bright  and  varied 
colors  of  the  autumnal  foliage  without  feeling  sad.  Most 
people  regard  it,  I  know,  as  a  joyous  scene  ;  but  it  is 
inseparable  from  the  idea  of  decay  and  death,  a  mere 
hectic  flush,  that  marks  the  work  of  the  destroyer  within. 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 


268  JOSE r II  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ['855. 

I  find  a  great  many  of  my  old  Round  Hill  pupils  here, 
who  are  disposed  to  be  very  kind  to  me,  and  would  feast 
me  clay  and  night  if  I  would  allow  them.  Fortunately 
I  have  a  good  excuse  for  declining  such  civilities  in  the 
business  which  calls  me  here.  Still,  I  find  it  pleasant  to 
be  remembered  so  kindly  and  so  cordially,  and  could  not 
be  so  ungracious  as  to  refuse,  if  I  could  accept. 

New  York,  Thursday  Morning,  30th  [NovemSer, 
1855].*  ....  I  am  now  very  snugly  domiciliated  in  the 
Library.  The  room  up-stairs,  where  Annie  Milliard's 
portrait  hangs,  has  been  put  in  nice  order  for  a  sleeping 
room,  and  there  I  repose  very  quietly,  with  no  one  to 
disturb  me  or  make  me  afraid.  The  library  porter  is  far 
off  in  the  basement,  but  I  have  a  bell  to  rouse  him  in 
case  of  need.  In  the  morning  early  he  makes  a  fire  in 
the  room  below,  gets  me  a  nice  breakfast  of  tea  and 
toast,  which  I  enjoy  in  solitary  grandeur,  en  pantoafflcs, 

wrapped  up  in  my  King  of  Oude  robe  de  chambre 

Mr.  Astor  won't  let  me  live  altogether  in  solitude.  Un- 
der one  pretext  or  another  he  invites  me  to  dine  with 
him  almost  every  day  ;  and  while  the  weather  remains 
as  mild  as  it  is  now,  I  can't  refuse.  When  it  gets  to  be 
winter  cold,  I  shall  shut  up  altogether. 

New  York,  December  31,  1855.!  My  dear  T.,  now  I'm 
not  angry  at  your  long  silence.  I  know  you  would  have 
written  if  all  the  ink  in  the  house  had  not  been  frozen 
up,  and  your  fingers  too  cold  to  hold  a  pen.  You  might, 
however,  have  telegraphed  that   you  are  all  alive,  and 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor.  t  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  69.]  THE  LIBRARY.  269 

well  too,  I  hope ;  but  perhaps  the  electric  fluid  at  your 
end  is  a  little  chilled  with  the  frost,  and  won't  work. 

I  can't  tell  you  in  one  letter  what  I  have  done  and 
where  I  have  been  since  I  heard  from  you.  In  the  first 
place,  I  went  down  South  as  far  as  Philadelphia,  the  first 
week  in  December,  and  spent  several  days  there  attend- 
ing a  book  auction In  the  next  place  I  went  to 

's  wedding That  was  my  last  great  exploit 

for  the  season.  I  have  now  gone  into  dignified  retire- 
ment, and  when  it  is  cold  do  not  go  outside  the  library 
door  for  three  or  four  days  together. 

We  shall  stop  buying  books  now  until  after  we  have  a 
catalogue.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  do  both,  it  produces 
too  much  confusion,  and  it  is  a  good  reason  for  stopping 
that  we  are  to  have  a  new  library  edifice  immediately.1 
I  see  by  your  last  report  that  you  are  determined  to 
shoot  ahead  of  us.2  God  speed  you.  These  strides  all 
help  the  good  cause. 

New  York,  January  31,  1856.*  ....  I  trust  I  am 
not  given  to  boasting,  but  I  believe  I  may  assert  without 
subjecting  myself  to  that  imputation,  that  no  library  of 
equal  extent  and  of  as  high  character,  was  ever  formed 
in  so  short  a  time  as  this  has  been,  and  none  at  a  less 
cost  for  the  labor  expended  in  doing  it.  From  first  to 
last  it  has  had  full  twice  as  many  hours,  daily,  of  my 
time  as  could  reasonably  have  been  required  of  me.3 .... 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


1  The  addition  to  the  building  made        -  Meaning  the  Boston  Public  Library, 
by  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor,  doubling  its  size.  8  He  says,  some  weeks  later :  "  I  have 


270  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [>Ss6. 

Boston,  May  20,  1856*  ....  Here  I  have  been 
since  last  Wednesday,  the  occupant  of  a  spacious  apart- 
ment which  looks  out  upon  the  Boston  Park,  and  over- 
looking the  fine  range  of  hills  of  the  suburban  villages 
to  the  southwest.  In  spite  of  east  winds  and  cold  rains, 
the  trees  and  shrubs  are  budding  and  blossoming,  and 
speaking  eloquently  to  every  lover  of  Nature  in  the  ani- 
mating language  of  returning  life.  This  eloquence  may 
not  be  as  sublime  as  that  of  the  heavens  over  our  head, 
but  it  speaks  even  stronger  hope  and  comfort  to  our  de- 
caying, perishing  natures.  Above,  the  eloquence  is  all 
of  the  Creator,  that  of  reviving  nature  speaks  to  and  of 
ourselves.  There  is  something  to  me  in  spring  which 
reaches  beyond  all  thoughts  of  time,  and  makes  eternity 
more  a  reality  to  me  than  all  other  vicissitudes  of  nature 
or  displays  of  creative  power.  Excuse  this  homily.  I 
cannot  raise  my  eyes  from  the  paper  without  turning 
them  to  one  of  those  lovely  pages  in  the  great  book  of 
nature,  that  is  too  fascinating  to  turn  away  from. 

Rokeby,1  Sicnday  Morning,  6th  July  [56].!  ....  I 
have  been  at  work  wickedly  hard  since  you  were  in  New 
York  ....  and  yet  my  thoughts  would  wander  from 
my  books  in  spite  of  me,  even  the  Astor  Library  could 
not  confine  them  ;  they  would  steal  away  off  east,  around, 
Point  Judith,  to  a  certain  fairy  spot  upon  a  certain  beau- 

*  To  Mrs.  Lewis  Livingston,  New  York.  t  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 

taken  no  exercise  out  of  the  Library,  and  keeping  warm  and  comfortable  in  doors, 

rarely  breathed  the  open  air.     When  the  to  enable  one  to  resist  cold  out  of  doors." 
day  was  clear,  I  have  gone  out  for  a  few         '  Mr.    W.    B.   Astor's   place    on    the 

minutes  at   midday  and   always  without  Hudson, 
an  overcoat.     So  much  for  my  theory  of 


Age  70.]  PERSEVERANCE.  271 

tiful  island  that  you  may  have  read  or  dreamt  of.  Wha  t 
senseless  creatures  we  are  to  cling  to  our  illusions  even 

to  the  very  verge  of  the  grave 

I  came  here  on  the  third,  and  everything  has  .been 
done  by  Mrs.  and  Mr.  Astor  to  make  my  visit  agreeable 

to  me During  the  very  hot  days  I  found  myself 

restored  to  the  best  days  of  my  youth  again.  I  could  not 
work  too  much  ....  Every  morning  at  four  found  me 
at  my  writing-table,  and  my  labors  never  closed  until 
midnight,  in  spite  of  my  resolves  to  break  off  at  eleven- 
If  I  had  written  to  you  then,  you  would  have  been 
charmed  with  the  life  and  spirit  of  my  epistle. 

New  York,  Sunday,  October  19,  1856*  All  my  week 
days  are  so  completely  filled  up  with  duties  and  toils 
that  I  have  no  time  to  muse  over  my  loneliness  and  sep- 
aration from  all  ties  of  kindred  and  affection  on  which 
human  happiness  depends  ;  but  when  Sunday  comes, 
such  thoughts  come  over  me  and  tell  me  how  desolate 
is  my  situation,  —  like  an  old  tree  on  the  moor  which 
winter  has  stript  of  its  leaves,  and  left  neither  shoot  nor 

shelter   around    it I    have    undertaken    a   work 

which  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  to  accomplish,  if  God 
spares  my  life  a  little  longer.  I  have  had  to  bear  the 
reproach  of  undertaking  and  not  completing  various  pro- 
jects of  some  moment,  and  whether  true  or  false  it  mat- 
ters not,  in  so  far  as  my  character  for  perseverance  is 
concerned  ;  and  now  I  am  resolved  that  the  last  act  of 
my  life  shall  give  the  lie  to  the  charge  of  fickleness  of 
purpose.     I  will  die  in  the  trench  rather  than  give  up. 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 


272  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1865. 

....  My  consolation  is  that  one  single  principle  has 
governed  me  from  first  to  last,  —  a  faithful  performance 
of  my  duty  to  the  extent  of  my  power.  A  few  years 
more  and  I  will  deliver  this  institution  into  the  hands  of 
my  successor  in  a  better  condition  than  any  library  of 
equal  extent  was  ever  before  brought  in  ten  times  the 
period.  You,  with  many  others,  believe  that  I  was  sent 
into  the  world  for  nothing  higher  than  to  be  a  librarian, 
which  is,  in  some  respects,  a  mistake.  It  is  in  my  nature 
to  do  with  all  my  might  whatever  my  hands  find  to  do, 
and  to  love  with  all  my  heart  the  friends  on  whom  my 
affections  are  fixed 

New  York,  November  9,  1856.*.  ...  I  would  not  be 
so  stupid,  dear  Mrs.  Burns,  if  I  lived  in  the  world  of 
animated  beings,  instead  of  being  immured  with  these 
dumb,  and  I  am  almost  tempted  to  add  another  d  — 
books,  and  dumb  in  the  truest  sense  they  are  to  me. 
The  ancient  fable  of  Tantalus  is  a  feeble  picture  of 
suffering  compared  with  what  I  have  daily  to  endure, 
his  was  only  physical,  mine  is  all  mental.  My  thirst  for 
knowledge  is  as  great  as  anybody's,  and  here  I  am,  all 
the  time  up  to  my  chin  in  a  grand  reservoir  of  all  that 
human  thought  and  genius  has  produced,  without  being 
able  to  drink  in  one  drop  of  it 

How  such  spirituelles  women  as  yourself  and  Mrs. 
Livingston  can  bear  with  me  either  in  conversation  or 
correspondence  I  cannot  comprehend.  In  the  latter 
very  few  men  have  ever  succeeded,  in  letters,  I  mean, 
intended  only  as  an  interchange  of  thought  between 
friends  when  separated,  of  the  same  nature  as  conversa- 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 


Age  7o.]  FAMOUS  LETTER-WRITERS.  273 

tion  when  together.  Learned  disquisitions  and  knotty- 
points  have  often  been  given  in  the  form  of  letters  ;  but 
that  is  another  affair.  Look  at  Horace  Walpole's,  which 
are  always  sarcastic  and  malevolent,  and  generally,  it 
must  be  acknowledged,  very  agreeable  and  amusing. 
What  gave  them  their  point  and  piquancy  but  his  fa- 
miliarity with  court  circles,  and  habitual  intercourse 
with  all  the  celebrities  of  his  time  ?  Look  at  Gray's, 
what  mere  descriptions  of  persons  and  places  ;  at  Cow- 
per's,  for  the  most  part  so  morbid  and  melancholy;  at 
Burns,  a  genius  second  only  to  Shakespeare,  how  ar- 
tificial, pedantic,  and  unlike  himself  in  poetry.  Byron 
comes  nearest,  occasionally,  to  my  idea  of  good  letter- 
writing,  but  not,  even  then,  without  a  spice  of  diabolism. 
On  the  other  hand,  what  hosts  of  female  letter-writers 
there  are,  in  whose  letters  every  line  is  charming  .... 
not  to  speak  of  those  whose  letters  were  never  in  print, 
of  which  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  see  some  of 
the  best  ever  written.  In  novels  men  often  make  their 
characters  of  both  sexes  write  delightful  letters,  and 
why  they  are  never  able  to  do  it  in  their  own  real  char- 
acters I  cannot  understand.  Do  not  imagine  that  I 
presume  to  compare  myself  with  any  of  the  great  men 
above  referred  to,  the  reference  was  made  to  them  to 
show  that  it  is  not  in  us  men  to  write  good  letters,  and 
if  such  men  as   those  cited  did  not  do  it,  I  surely  may 

be  excused  for  being  dull  as  a  correspondent 

You  were  very  kind,  dear  Mrs.  Burns,  to  reason  with 
me  about  my  want  of  wisdom  in  continuing  my  course 
of  sacrificing  to  my  Juggernaut ;  what  can  I  do  ?  I  am 
on  the  track,  and  there  is  no  escape  for  me. 

35 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

1857-1860.  —  Extravagant  Labors  on  Catalogue. — Visit  to  Portland 
for  rest. — New  Building  added  to  the  Astor  Library  by  Mr.  W. 
B.  Astor.  —  Trip  to  Charleston.  —  Ninth  Visit  to  Europe. 

1VT  EW  YORK,  Sunday  Morning,  November  1,  1857.* 
-*■  ....  I  write  on  Sunday,  because  it  is  the  only 
day  when  I  can  stop  to  take  breath.  Every  minute  of 
every  other  day,  from  early  morn  to  that  of  irresistible 
somnolency  is  consumed  in  one  breathless  race  of  labor. 
You  may  well  wonder  why  it  is  so ;  perhaps  I  may  clear 
up  the  matter  to  you  a  little.  In  the  first  place  it  is  in 
my   nature,  and    then    existing   circumstances   increase 

the  natural  disposition  to  press  onward 

I  began  the  Catalogue  against  my  own  judgment  of 

the  expediency  of   the  measure Now  all  agree 

that  it  was  premature.  Mr.  Astor  was  the  only  one 
who  had  independence  enough  to  speak  out,  he  said  it 
would  be  better  to  postpone  it,  —  he  knowing  what  he 
intended  to  do  in  the  way  of  furnishing  the  means  for 
increasing  the  library.  When  it  was  begun  there  was 
not  a  page  in  MS.,  we  had  no  Catalogue  but  the  slip 
one,  and  ever  since  I  have  been  at  work,  like  the  leader 
of  a  gang  of  mowers,  sure  to  have  my  heels  cut  if  I 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  7i.]  LABORS  ON  THE  CATALOGUE.  275 

did  not  keep  ahead.  Now  the  work  has  been  done  in 
this  way.  I  took  the  slip  Catalogue,  and  examined  it 
in  the  order  of  the  alphabet,  as  expeditiously  as  I  could, 
and  finding  at  least  three-quarters  of  the  titles  wrong 
in  some  respect,  I  had  to  correct  or  write  over  a  good 
part  of  it,  and  never  without  the  book  before  me,  unless 
the  title  was  as  familiar  to  me  as  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis.  The  slips  were  then  handed  to  a  copyist  who 
knows  nothing  whatever  about  books,  and  not  a  word 

of  any  language  but  English With  the  exception 

of  the  machine  which  undertakes  to  transcribe  the  MS. 
for  the  printer,  not  a  hand  has  been  put  to  the  work 
except  my  own.  The  Library  provides  paper  and  pays 
the  expense  of  printing,  but  until  the  manuscript  goes 
into  the  printer's  hands  all  the  cost  of  it  is  my  own. 
In  justice  to  the  Library  I  should  say  this  is  not  de- 
manded of  me,  it  is  my  choice.1  ....  We  have  so 
many  books  coming  in  every  day,  I  have  preferred  to 
hold  back,  and  extend  the  matter  of  the  Catalogue 
by  a  full  analysis  of  all  collected  works,  rather  than 
complete,  in  ever  so  great  dispatch,  a  mere  list  of  the 
old  skeleton  library. 

New  York,  December  23,  1857*  .  .  .  .  Now  is  it  not 
sad  that  the  closing  years  of  a  man's  life  should  be 
doomed  to  a  weary  round  of  ceaseless  drudgery,  with- 
out a  single  one  of  those  social  enjoyments  which  warm 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns. 

1  He  says,  April  5,  1859 :  "  All  the  proofs  corrected  and  revised.  In  no 
work  for  the  Catalogue  is  done  by  my-  other  way  can  I  be  sure  of  a  tolerable 
self,  the   MS.  prepared  and  copied,  and     degree  of  correctness." 


276  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1857. 

the  heart  and  gladden  the  countenance  "  when  the 
evil  days  have  come."  And,  then,  too,  to  give  occasion 
to  friends  to  say,  what 's  the  use  of  caring  for  him,  he 

does  not  give  a  line   nor  a  thought  to  any  of  us 

And  yet,  dear  Mrs.  Burns,  my  heart  has  not  grown 
cold.  The  moment  I  am  away  from  this  all-absorbing 
scene  of  duties,  I  find  I  love  all  whom  I  have  before 
loved,  just  as  ardently  as  ever,  and  then  it  is  that  I  am 
happy.  If  my  friends  knew  that,  for  months  together, 
my  daily  task  has  been  to  toil  through  the  day,  and,  on 
returning  from  dinner  in  the  evening  at  seven,  to  find 
a  roll  of  papers  imperatively  requiring  from  me  six  good 
hours  of  diligent  labor  before  seven  the  next  morning, 
they  would  believe  that  I  may  not  be  dead  to  all  good 
affections,  although  I  do  not  give  them  renewed  proofs 
of  cherishing  them. 

Portland,  March  4,  1858.*  ....  It  will  be  a  matter 
of  some  surprise  to  you,  no  doubt,  to  find  that  I  should 
have  been  landed  in  Portland  when  my  destination  was 
Charleston,  S.  C,  but  when  you  learn  that  I  put  myself 
into  the  hands  of  a  physician,  the  first  time  for  thirty 
years,  you  will  readily  understand  how  it  has  happened. 
....  I  am  better,  very  much  better,  and  I  am  willing 
to  give  Dr.  Barker  a  full  share  of  credit  for  my  im- 
provement, but  I  have  no  doubt  the  greatest  is  due  to 
my  being  away  from  New  York,  and  out  of  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  Library.  Everything  possible  is  done  for 
me  here,  and  my  life  is  as  regular  and  tranquil  as  it 
could  be  in  any  solitude 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  72]  THE  NEW  LIBRARY.  277 

New  York,  July  26,  1858.*  ....  I  have  been  a  fix- 
ture in  the  Library,  since  the  day  I  returned  from  Boston 
until  now,  with  the  exception  of  three  days  about  the 
4th  of  July,  and   I  do  not  expect  to  move  very  soon, 

unless  I  move  across  the  Atlantic Whenever  the 

thermometer  is  above  80,  and  the  wind  in  any  quar- 
ter but  the  eastern,  I  forget  that  I  am  an  old  man  and 
can  do  as  much  and  move  as  quick  as  I  did  in  my  palm- 
iest days.     At  other  times  I  find  life  a  burden This 

day  week  we  close  for  the  four  weeks  of  August,  and  as 
the  workmen,  on  that  day,  break  through  the  main  wall, 
to  form  the  communication  between  the  buildings,  which 
disturbs  the  entire  arrangement  of  one  of  our  alcoves 
and  exposes  all  the  rest,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  leave  until 
it  is  newly  arranged  and  made  secure.1 

New  York,  November  25,  1858.!  ....  We  were  all 
very  much  distressed,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of 
the   Library  yesterday,  to  see  how  very  ill   Mr.   Irving 

looked,    and    how  feeble    he    evidently  was His 

kindness  to  me  in  October  when  I  was  so  ill,  and  had 
no  one  around  me  but  him,  to  sit  by  and  comfort  me, 
was  so  great  and  unremitted,  that  it  has  bound  me  to 
him  by  a  new  tie.2  .... 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor.  t  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 

1  A   month   later   he   says :    "  I   have  has   caused   me   to   produce   new  order 

been   able   to  keep   myself   comfortably  again." 

warm  by  carrying  armfuls  of  books  up  A   few  weeks  later,  September  20,  he 

and  down  stairs.     In  consequence  of  the  published,    in   the    New    York    Evening 

four  wide  passages  recently  opened  be-  Post,  an  interesting  letter  on  the  condi- 

tween  the  libraries,  it  has  been  necessary  tion  and  prospects  of  the  Library: 

to  empty  four  alcoves  through  which  they  2  This  must  be  the  occasion   alluded 

are  made  ....  and  a  deal  of  work  it  to  by  Mr.  Irving's  biogTapher,  when  he 


278  JOSEJ'LI  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1859. 

Astor  LIBRARY,  February  27,  1859.*  ....  You  ask, 
dear  Mrs.  Burns,  why  I  am  not  in  Paris,  enjoying  its  de- 
lights ?  There  is  but  one  reason  why  I  am  not.  It  is 
not  the  post  where  my  duties  place  me,  my  work  is  not 
quite  done  yet.  My  great  aim  now  is  to  complete  my 
part  of  it  in  such  a  way  as  will  leave  no  room  for  self- 
reproach,    or    give   just    occasion    to    others  to    say    I 

wanted  the  resolution  to  go  through  with  it The 

work  I  have  performed  has  been  wholly  a  work  of  love. 
It  was  one  of  my  earliest  aspirations  to  be  instrumental 
in  securing  to  the  cause  of  sound  learning,  somewhere 
in  the  country,  a  library  that  would  supply  the  wants  of 

scholars I  have  not  succeeded  as  fully  as  I  could 

wish,  but  I  have  laid  the  foundation  on  which  the  com- 
plete edifice  may  be  raised,  and,  however  soon  I  may  be 
called  out  of  the  world,  I  shall  have  the  consoling  reflec- 
tion when  I  die,  that  I  have  not  lived  wholly  in  vain 

New  York,  June  13,  1859.!  ....  I  returned  on 
Saturday  morning  from  Lancaster  and  the  banks  of  the 
Brandywine,  where  I  passed  Thursday  and  Friday 
very  pleasantly.  The  beauty  of  nature  and  the  fertility 
of  the  country  surprised  me  greatly.  I  know  not  where 
or  when  I  have  seen  such  evidences  of  prosperity  and 
thrift  as    the    whole    of  that    region    presents.     I    have 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns.  t  To  Geo.  Ticknor. . 

says  :  "  Mr.  Cogswell  related  to  me  the  jokes,  after  Cogswell   got  well,  was  that 

following   anecdote.     Mr.    Irving   called  in  going  for  the  doctor   he   thought  he 

at   his   rooms  in   the  Astor  Library  not  would  just  stop  at  the  undertaker's  on 

many  months  since,  and  finding  him  sick  the  way  and  order  a  coffin,  and   now  he 

abed,  and  alarmingly  ill,  hurried  off  for  had  the  coffin   on  his  hands."  —  Life  of 

his   physician,   Dr.  Barker.     One  of  his  W.  Irving,  vol.  iv.,  p.  289. 


Age  73]  DEATH  OF  MR.  IRVING.  279 

marked  out  my  carte  de  route  for  Boston  and  Rox- 
bury 

New  York,  October  3,  1859.*  ....  August  was  a 
month  of  very  severe  labor  for  me.  Every  book  in  the  Li- 
brary changed  its  place,  and  consequently  passed  through 
my  hands  for  rearrangement.  Never  in  all  my  life  have  I 
worked  so  many  hours  of  so  many  days  continuously, 
without  any  respite  except  for  meals  and  sleep,  and  always 
on  my  feet.  I  may  add  that  never  in  all  my  life  could  I 
have  stood  it,  as  I  have  now  done 

New  York,  December  14,  1859.!  ....  Mr.  Irving's 
death  did  not  take  any  of  us  by  surprise,  we  had  all  seen 
that  the  vital  spark  was  well  nigh  extinct,  for  some  time 

past His  prayer  was  granted.     He  had  dreaded 

the  idea  of  becoming  a  burden  to  his  friends,  or  living 
beyond  the  time  when  he  could  enjoy  life.  No  one  ever 
lived  a  more  beautiful  life,  no  one  ever  left  less  to  regret 
in  life,  no  one  ever  carried  with  him  to  his  grave  more 
universal  affection,  respect,  and  sorrow.  The  day  of  his 
funeral  I  spent  wholly  at  Irvington,  and,  sad  and  sorrow- 
ful as  it  was,  it  was  delightful  to  see  a  whole  community 
of  rural  population  exhibiting  such  strong  proofs  of  re- 
spect and  grief.  I  saw  one  or  two  of  the  old  men,  plain 
farmers,  taking  up  handfuls  of  the  earth  which  had  lain 
upon  his  grave,  and  putting  it  into  their  big  pockets. 
....  Every  shop  was  shut  for  miles  below  and  above 
Sunnyside,  badges  of  mourning  were  hung  out  on  al- 
most all  the  buildings  and  many  of  the  trees,  in  fact  the 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor.  t  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 


280  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [i860. 

banks  of  the  Hudson  seemed  to  be  sending  up  one  uni- 
versal wail  of  woe 

Charleston,  S.  C,  March  13,  [i860.]*  ....  I  have 
been  luxuriating  the  last  six  days  in  this  delightful  Spring 

climate It  was  just  sunrise  when  we  landed  and 

as  I  drove  from  the  pier  to  Mr.  King's  house,  every  gar- 
den was  festooned  with  the  yellow  jasmine,  just  coming 
into  full  blossom,  and  a  more  cheering  welcome  I  did  not 

want I  have  made  several  short  excursions  into 

the  country  and  seen  what  they  have  most  to  boast  of 
both  in  the  way  of  wild  nature  and  high  cultivation. 
Mr.  Drayton's  place  at  Magnolia,  which  is  about  twelve 
miles  from  the  city  on  the  Ashley  river,  is  unsurpassed 
in  some  respects  by  any  floriculture  I  ever  saw.  His 
hedges  are  all  composed  of  camellias,  azaleas,  rhododen- 
drons, lagostrcemias  and  flowering  shrubs  of  the  like 
beauty.  One  walk,  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in 
circuit,  is  lined  exclusively  with  camellias  of  every  variety, 
generally  above  the  height  of  our  heads  as  we  passed 
along,  and  nearly  all,  at  this  time,  in  full  bloom.  Another 
walk  was  lined  with  azaleas,  in  the  same  way,  which 
were  also  in  full  bloom,  and  then  came  a  variety  of  native 
flowering  shrubs,  as  the  wild  olive  and  wild  orange,  so  as 
to  form,  altogether,  one  of  the  most  varied  and  most 
beautiful  displays  of  floral  charms  that  could  be  im- 
agined  

My  residence  in  Carolina,  short  as  it  will  be,  gives  me 
a  fair  opportunity  of  judging  about  the  present  state  of 
feeling  and  the  present  action  for  their  own  security, 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 


Age  73.]  SECESSION.  28 1 

and  preparation  to  live  independent  of  us.  I  have 
neither  heard  nor  seen  anything  of  violence,  but  every- 
where an  expression  of  settled  determination  to  be 
governed  by  their  own  sense  of  right,  and  to  enjoy 
their  rights.  I  have  seen  and  conversed  with  almost 
every  man  of  weight  and  prominence  here,  and  have 
not  heard  a  word   that  would  have  been  offensive  at  a 

New  England   table I  have  improved  every  way 

by  the  trip.1 

New  York,  May  18,  i860*  ....  I  have  just  been 
in  to  Mr.  Astor's  to  say  to  him,  that  I  shall  go  across 
the  water  to  England  at  the  end  of  June,  —  I  am  so  fully 
satisfied  that  nothing  short  of  it  will  bring  me  up  again 
to  working  trim,  and  it  is  certainly  somewhat  doubtful 

if  even  that  will If  the   Trustees  do  not  approve 

the  project,  I  shall  still  go,  and  give  up,  altogether,  my 
connection  with  the  Library,  but  as  Mr.  Astor  and  his 
son  John  both  approve  very  decidedly,  I  do  not  appre- 
hend any  objection  on  the  part  of  the  others.     I  do  not 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 

1  A  note  of  this  spring,  to  Mr.  Ticknor,  gaze,  but  for  's  folly.     The  occur- 

contains  the  only  allusion  that  has  been  rence  happened  early  in  July  last,  and 

found   to   a   famous   ghost   story,   about  was  told  by  me  the  next  morning  at  the 

which   Mr.   Cogswell    was   much  joked,  Oriental,  where  I  board,  and  told  as  a 

and  about  which  inquiries  are  often  made,  curious  illusion,  and  thought  no  more  of, 

as  to  whether  he  believed  himself  to  have  until  I  was  asked  about  it  at 's  just 

seen  an  apparition,  or  was  making  fun.  before  I  went  South."     In   conversation 

The   story  was    that   he  had   seen,   at  Mr.   Cogswell  explained  it  as  an  effect 

night,  in  the  Astor  Library,  the  ghost  of  produced  by  the  moonlight  in  one  of  the 

a  physician,  recently  dead,  who  had  often  alcoves  of  the  Library,  which  suggested 

been  there  in  his  lifetime.      He   writes  the   figure   of   the   Doctor   with   a   coat 

thus  :  "  I    have   only   a  moment  to  say  hanging   over   his    arm.     No  doubt  the 

that   the   ghosts  have  all  flit  away,  and  incident   lost   none   of  its  suggestion  in 

would  never  have  been  exposed  to  public  the  telling. 
36 


282  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [i860. 

propose  to  be  absent  more  than  three  months.  My 
friend,  Mrs.  Lewis  Livingston,  first  brought  mc  to  de- 
cide upon  this.  She  has  been  in  town  for  the  last  four 
weeks,  and  sees  Dr.  Barker  every  day,  who  is  my  physi- 
cian. When  she  had  his  opinion,  strongly  expressed 
that  this  was  absolutely  necessary  to  bring  me  up  once 
more,  she  wrote  me  a  note  urging  me  to  embark  the 
next  day,  and  this  is  the  compromise  I  have  made  in 
regard  to  it 

Paris,  July  30,  i860*  ....  After  visiting  Cork,  the 
lakes  of  Killarneyand  Dublin,  I  left  Ireland  for  London, 
arriving  there  Wednesday  evening  July  nth,  and  re- 
mained until  Friday  the  27th,  when  I  started  for  Paris 
and  arrived  here  the  afternoon  of  the  same  clay  at  six.  I 
was  not  allowed  to  go  to  a  hotel  in  either  London  or 
Paris,  but  found  friends  in  both  places  awaiting  my  arri- 
val at  the  station,  who  insisted  on  my  making  my  tempo- 
rary home  with  them Kindness  everywhere,  even 

among  friends  where  it  may  be  looked  for,  is  a  cordial  for 
the  heart,  and  when  it  is  bestowed  where  we  have  no  right 
to  expect  it,  it  is  doubly  so.  I  am  sure,  dear  Mary,1  it 
will  gratify  you  to  know  that  thus  far  almost  as  much 
has  been  done  for  my  comfort,  as  could  have  been  done 
even  by  your  affectionate  attentions.  Here,  I  am  living 
under  the  hospitable  roof  of  my  friend  M.  Bossange 
who  has  placed  three  of  his  rooms  at  my  disposal,  and 
given  orders  to  his  servants  to  do  everything  possible  for 

*  To  Mrs.  D.  G.  Haskins. 

1  Mary  Cogswell  Daveis  (in  an  earlier  page  of  this  work  misnamed  Mary  Gil- 
man),  the  wife   of  Rev.  David  Greene  Haskins. 


Age  73-].      RAPID    TOUR    THROUGH  EUROPE.  283 

my  comfort.  His  business  calls  him  to  his  office  every 
day,  and  I  am  left  in  possession  of  the  whole  house, 
Madame  Bossange  being  at  her  summer  residence  in 
the  country.  The  bad  weather  has  prevented  my  going 
about  the  city  to  any  considerable  extent,  still  I  have 
seen  enough  to  be  convinced,  that  improvements,  almost 
marvellous,  have  been  made  in  every  part  of  it 

My  principal  object  is  health  and  recreation.  Book 
buying  is  not  lost  sight  of,  though  secondary,  but  books, 
especially  early  printed  ones,  have  become  so  excessively 
dear,  I  do  not  like  to  buy  many 

Give  my  love  to  Mr.  Haskins  and  the  children  all,  and 
tell  David  I  do  not  forget  the  coins  for  him.  Please 
to  communicate  my  despatches  to  Portland  friends,  to 
all  of  whom  I  send  most  affectionate  greetings. 

Vienna,  August  22,  i860*  ....  When  you  see  where 
I  write  from  and  the  day  on  which  I  write,  and  learn 
that  on  this  day  week  I  left  Paris,  and  in  the  interim 
have  spent  three  entire  days  in  Hamburg,  the  same  num- 
ber in  Berlin,  having  arrived  here  last  evening  at  seven 
and  a  half,  you  will  not  have  any  doubt  either  of  the 
speed  of  the  European  railway  trains  or  of  my  diligence. 
....  You  will  readily  infer,  from  my  rapid  movement, 
that  I  have  not  much  time  for  sight-seeing,  and  in  fact  I 
do  not  need  much  for  such  purposes,  as  I  have  been 
over  all  the  ground  before.  The  most  interesting  thing 
to  me  in  Berlin  was  the  house  in  which  Humboldt  died, 
where  all  things,  except  his  library,  are  to  remain  as  he 
left  them  for  a  few  weeks  more,  and  are  then  to  be  scat- 

*  To  C.  S.  Daveis,  Portland. 


284  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [i860. 

tered  to  the  four  winds,  by  the  hammer  of  the  auctioneer. 
I  spent  an  hour  in  examining  them  with  great  interest, 
and  when  at  last  I  came  to  the  bed  on  which  he  died, 
and  took  in  hand  the  plaster  cast  of  his  face  that  was 
taken  of  him  after  death,  marked  with  the  deep  furrows 
of  age,  sunken  cheeks  and  toothless  jaws,  I  felt  more 
deeply  than  I  ever  did  before  the  utter  nothingness  of 

human  greatness 

When  you  asked  me  where  I  intended  to  go  during 
my  tour,  I  was  obliged  to  say  I  did  not  know,  and  so  it 
has  proved  from  the  moment  I  landed  in  Ireland  until 
now.  I  had  not  made  up  my  mind  to  stop  at  Queens- 
town,  more  than  an  hour  before  we  arrived  off  the  port 
....  and  I  am  here  just  as  a  boat  adrift  is  floated  by 

some  eddy  into  an  accidental  harbor Everything 

has  favored    me  thus    far   during  my  tour,  except    the 

weather,  and  that  has  been  very  bad  all  the  time 

I  have  not  been  ill  for  a  single  hour,  and  although  I  took 
no  letters  of  introduction,  I  have  everywhere  found  so 
many  old  acquaintances,  that  I  had  no  occasion  of  mak- 
ing new  ones.  Courtesies  and  kindness  have  been  shown 
me,  wherever  I  had  time  to  receive  them,  and  the  facili- 
ties of  travelling  are  so  great  that  I  have  had  nothing  to 
fret  or  fatigue  me 

London,  six  o'clock,  Saturday  Evening,  September  8, 
[i860.]*  .  .  .  My  dear  Mary,  —  One  line  will  tell  you 
all  that  I  need  write  now.  I  have  made  my  long  tour 
on  the  continent  and  returned  in  good  health,  for  which 
1  am  very  grateful  to  God  ;  and  now  I  am  preparing  for 

*  To  Mrs.  Haskins. 


Age  73.]  HOMEWARD   BOUND.  285 

my  return  to  America.  You  will  hardly  have  read  this 
short  note,  before  you  will  have  heard  of  the  arrival  of 
the  steamer,  in  which  I  am  to  embark  next  Wednesday. 
....  With  my  best  love  to  Mr.  Haskins  and  the  chil- 
dren all,  ever  most  truly, 

Your  affectionate  uncle, 

Joseph  G.  Cogswell. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

1861-1864. —  Resigns  the  Office  of  Superintendent  of  the  Astor  Li- 
brary.—  Undertakes  the  Preparation  of  a  Supplementary  Volume  of 
Astor  Library  Catalogue. —  Builds  a  House  in  Cambridge,  Mass., 
and  removes  there  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haskins,  in  May,  1864.  — 
Visits  to  Friends.  —  In  New  York  during  the  Riots  in  July,  1863.  — 
Round  Hill  Celebration,  December,  1864. 

1NJEW  YORK,  April  29,  1861*  ....  The  humili- 
^-^ating  condition  to  which  Southern  insolence  and 
ruffianism  have  reduced  us  has  preyed  upon  me  greatly. 
I  never  wished  to  be  young  again  until  now,  and,  old  as 
I  am,  I  would  have  volunteered  with  any  adequate  num- 
ber to  go  down  and  force  a  way  through  Baltimore,  by 
laying  it  in  ruins,  if  it  could  have  been  done  in  no  other 
way.  It  was  no  disgrace  to  have  the  lawful  authority  of 
the  country  fallen  upon  by  a  mob,  for  that  might  happen 
under  the  strongest  government.  It  is  an  indelible  one 
to  have  allowed  the  mob  to  keep  up  the  obstruction  for 
days,  between  every  part  of  the  country  and  the  capital 
of  it.  If  it  is  not  soon  wiped  out  I  shall  be  ashamed  to 
own  that  I  am  an  American. 

The  course  which  has  been  pursued  by  the  South  has 
changed  all  my  feelings  towards  them.  If  they  had 
taken  the  ground,  that  they  had  a  right  to  secede  if  such 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  75.1  THE   WAR    QUESTION.  287 

was  the  clear  and  express  will  of  the  people,  and  main- 
tained the  right  like  honest  men,  I,  for  one,  would  have 
said,  "  Go,  you  shall  have  what  fairly  belongs  to  you  "  — 
but  to  buccaneers  I  would  give  no  answer  except  from 
the  mouth  of  the  cannon.1 

Out  of  all  this  evil  great  good  will  come.  The  North- 
ern States  will  be  more  united,  the  principle  of  unli- 
censed democracy  will  be  checked,  our  vainglorious 
boasting  will  be  silenced,  and  the  practical  acknowledg- 
ment that  Cotton  is  King  will  no  more  be  heard.  I 
firmly  believe  that  the  substantial  and  permanent  pros- 
perity of  the  North  was  secured  by  the  first  gun  that 
was  fired  at  Fort  Sumpter,  and  the  rapid  decline  of  the 
South  will  date  from  the  same  event.  I  rejoice  to  find 
that  Massachusetts  has  come  up  so  nobly  to  the  rescue. 

New  York,  November  23,  186 1.*  .  .  .  .  My  health  gen- 
erally has  very  much  improved  within  the  last  month,  but 
my  spine  still  troubles  me  at  times  exceedingly I 

*  To  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


1  In   connection  with    this   strong  ex-  say,  "  I  particularly  observed  during  the 

pression  of  feeling,  it   is  pleasant  to  be  war,  as   he  was   often   my  guest   during 

allowed  to  present  the    testimony  of  a  that  unfortunate  period,  when,  from  the 

lady  whose  relations  with  different  parts  peculiarity  of  my  own  position,  Southern 

of  the  country,  as  well  as  her  high  stand-  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  often  with  us. 

ing  in   society,   and   refined   estimate  of  No  -word  ever  escaped  his  lips  to  wound 

the   demands   of  good   breeding,    entitle  the  feelings  of  any,  and  at  the  same  time 

her   words    to   be   accepted   and   highly  he   was   known   to   be   firm  in   his  own 

valued.    In  a  note  written  after  Mr.  Cogs-  opinion.    He  avoided  argument  or  heated 

well's   death,   Mrs.    Gilpin   of   Philadel-  discussion  on  the  merits  of  the  war  ques- 

phia  speaks   of  "  His  information  on  all  tion,  and  gave  to  all  around  him  a  beauti- 

subjects  of  conversation   so  correct  and  ful  example  of  forbearance,  with  the  most 

extended,  and  his  manners  so  mild  and  kindly  feeling  for  those  whom  I  knew  he 

unobtrusive,  with  great  delicacy  of  feel-  thought  in  the  wrong." 
ing  for   others.     This,"  she  goes  on  to 


288  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1861. 

cannot  perform  the  duties  of  my  office  to  my  own  satis- 
faction, and,  as  I  cannot,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  resign. 
The  Trustees  are  not  willing  to  accept  my  resignation, 
and  would  gladly  give  me  a  furlough,  for  any  time  I 
might  judge  necessary.  I  do  not  deem  this  the  right 
way  of  proceeding  for  a  public  institution,  if  I  were  of 
an  age  when  I  might  still  render  some  service  to  it,  my 
scruples  would  be  less.  As  to  being  placed  on  the  re- 
tired list  with  pay,  it  is  out  of  the  question,  they  have 
no  power  to  do  it,  and  I  have  no  wish  to  have  it  done. 
What  I  have,  will  be  enough  for  my  wants  during  the 
short  period  of  life  which  remains  to  me.  I  have  still  a 
good  deal  of  work  to  finish  off,  before  I  can  withdraw 
entirely  from  the  Library,  which  I  shall  do  much  more 
conveniently  when  my  regular  duties  in  it  are  laid  aside. 
Now  I  have  no  time  for  work  during  the  day,  and  my 
eyes  do  not  allow  me  to  do  much  by  candlelight. 


In  a  note  of  the  6th  of  December,  1861,  Mr.  Cogs- 
well informed  Mrs.  Ticknor  that  he  had  resigned  the 
office  of  Superintendent  of  the  Astor  Library,  and  his 
resignation  had  been  accepted  by  the  Trustees,  adding 
that  he  had  recommended  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Fran- 
cis Schroeder  as  his  successor.1  By  this  action  he  had, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  cut  himself  adrift  from  the 
ties  and  occupations  which  had  been  most  absorbing  and 
interesting  to  him  for  more  than  twenty  years.  His  ad- 
vanced age  appeared  to  justify  his  course,  and  he  began 

1  Former  pupil  at  Round  Hill,  and  Minister  of  the  United  States  to  Sweden  in 
1850. 


Age  73]  HOME   IN  CAMBRIDGE.  289 

to  form  plans  for  passing  his  last  years  in  quiet  among 
friends.  Several  schemes  are  alluded  to  in  his  notes  ; 
some  were  proposed  by  loving  friends,  others  suggested 
by  his  own  fancy  ;  but  within  little  more  than  two  months 
after  his  resignation,  he  had  taken  the  first  steps  towards 
the  arrangement  which  he  finally  carried  out,  although 
he  did  not,  until  some  time  later,  fix  any  definite  period 
for  its  accomplishment,  or  enter  on  details.  Mrs.  Has- 
kins,  the  niece  of  his  wife  and  bearing  her  name,  the 
daughter,  also,  of  his  life-long  friend  Daveis,  was  about 
to  establish  her  home,  with  her  husband  and  children,  in 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts.  To  her  and  her  family  he 
turned  with  a  feeling  born  of  old  and  tender  associations, 
and  of  affection  handed  down  from  a  previous  genera- 
tion. Before  long  preliminaries  were  agreed  upon,  but 
he  did  not  make  his  purpose  known  to  most  of  his 
friends  till  more  than  a  year  later. 

Mr.  Cogswell  finally  built,  at  his  own  cost,  a  house  in  a 
cheerful  and  central  situation  in  Cambridge,  near  the 
Colleges,  with  open  space  before  and  around  it,  reserving 
a  suite  of  three  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  for  himself. 
Mr.  Haskins'  family  occupied  the  rest  of  the  house, 
and  for  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  Mr.  Cogswell 
received  from  them  the  most  affectionate  attention  and 
service,  all  the  care,  indeed,  which  he  would  accept.  He 
took  as  much  or  as  little  part  in  their  family  life  as  he 
pleased,  often  maintaining  his  independent  habits  in  a 
way  which  could  only  be  accounted  for,  by  the  history  of 
the  many  years  of  solitary  experience  that  had  wrought 
their  effect  upon  his  character,  —  but  always  sure  to  find 
the  tenderness  of  a  home  around  him,  when  he  turned  to 

37 


290  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1862. 

seek  it.     At  his  death  the  house  became,  by  his  will,  the 
property  of  Mrs.  Haskins. 


New  York,  December  2,  1862.*  Dear  Annie,  —  Your 
note  of  the  26th  November,  which  I  found  at  Uncle 
John's  last  night,  went  right  to  my  heart,  it  was  so  kind, 
so  affectionate,  and  such  an  exact  response  to  the  feel- 
ings which  I  cherish  for  you  all,  it  really  made  me  for- 
get that  I  was  left  in  the  world  the  loneliest  of  the  lonely. 
Ever  since  I  gave  up  the  charge  of  the  Library  I  have 
been  in  doubt  where  I  should  spend  the  remainder  of 
my  days  on  earth.  My  project  of  a  trip  to  California, 
and  thence  round  the  world,  did  not  bear  the  test  of  re- 
flection and  sober  examination,  my  health  was  too 
changing  and  my  strength  at  times  too  feeble  to  risk  the 
trials  to  which  I  should  be  exposed  ;  our  relations  with 
Europe  were  too  uncertain  to  allow  me  to  be  at  ease,  in 
any  one  of  the  countries  I  could  have  selected  for  my 

residence  on  that  side  the  Atlantic In  this  state  of 

indecision  month  after  month  glided  away,  and  at  last  the 
Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library  came  out  with  a  proposal 
to  me,  to  prepare  an  additional  volume  of  catalogue,  and 
being  weary  of  idleness  I  have  agreed  to  do  it,  taking 
my  own  time  for  it.1     This  will  be  a  winter's  job,  but  it 

*  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  Bordentown,  N.  J. 

1  On  the  1 2th  of  May,  he  says  :  "  Mr.  vember  8,  he  writes  :  "  The  Trustees  at 

Astor   has  signified  that  he  is  going  to  their  meeting  on  Wednesday,  voted  that 

make  another  donation  to   the  Library,  an  additional  volume  of  the   Catalogue 

subject  to  an  annuity  to  be  paid  to  me  of  be   prepared,   to    contain    the    titles    of 

$300,  being  the  interest,  at  six  per  cent.,  books  which  have  come  to  the  Library 

on  the  cost  of  the  bibliographical  collec-  since  the  publication  of  the  present  one, 

tion,  which  was  made  at  my  cost.    I  think  and  a  raisonul  of  the  whole,  and  that  I 

I  had  a  fair  claim  for  this,  and  gave  the  should   be   requested   to   prepare  it,  on 

Trustees  to  understand  as  much."    No-  terms  to  be  agreed  upon." 


Age  76.]  I         SUPPLEMENTARY    CATALOGUE.  29 1 

will  not  oblige  me  to  be  here  constantly,  and  if  you  are 
to  be  at  home  at  Christmas  time,  I  will  come  and  make 
merry  with  you.1 

Bordentown,  May  27,  1863.*  ....  I  have  been  reflect- 
ing seriously  upon  what  I  ought  to  do  with  regard  to  the 
Catalogue.  My  conclusion  is  that  it  is  expedient  for  me 
to  finish  the  alphabet  of  supplement,  first,  because  it  is 
only  completing  the  record  of  what  was  done  by  me 
in  forming  the  Library,  and  next,  because  I  am  now 
so  far  on  with  it  I  am  unwilling  to  abandon  the  under- 
taking, if  my  health  is  sufficient  for  the  work I 

have  concluded  to  spend  the  month  of  June  in  New 
York,  which  will  enable  me  to  get  quite,  or  very  nearly 
through  with  the  preparation  of  the  manuscript  for  the 
Supplementary  Volume ;  and  when  I  am  through  with 
that  I  shall  be  content  to  stop,  and  I  know  myself  well 
enough  to  know  that  I  should  never  be  satisfied  with 
anything  short  of  it,  if  want  of  health  and  strength  did 
not  compel  me  to  stop 

New  York,  June  4,  1863.!  ....  You  speak  of  an 
excursion  inland  with  William  in  August.  Now,  if  you 
would  allow  me  to  be  of  the  party  I  would  point  out  to 
you  some  very  pretty  country  in  New  England,  that  I 
am  sure  you  would  like  to  see.  We  would  follow  along 
the  mountain  streams  that  wind  their  way  amidst  scenery 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston.  t  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 

1  He   was,    fortunately,  able    to    pass  treated  with   a  devoted   affection  which 

much  of  his  time,  during  this  winter  and  could  hardly  have  been  exceeded  if  he 

the  following  spring,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  had  been  a  venerated  relative. 
Mailliard,  at  Bordentown,  where  he  was 


292  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1863. 

as  wild  and  beautiful,  if  not  as  sublime,  as  that  of  Swit- 
zerland, and  around  mountains  and  lakes,  and  by  the 
side  of  rivers  that  want  nothing  of  the  charms  of  Ben 
Lomond,  or  Leman,  or  the  Rhine,  but  their  associations  ; 
and  by  your  presence  would  have  a  charm  that  all  of 
classic  song  and  story  could  not  impart.  If  you  will 
not  let  me  make   this  excursion  with  you  I  shall  hardly 

be  able  to  see  you  for  the  summer 

I  was  greatly  pleased  to  have  your  approval  of  my 
plan  about  Cambridge.  To  myself  it  was  comforting, 
as  it  enabled  me  to  say  I  had  given  up  loafing.  It  would 
be  most  ungrateful  in  me  to  say  that  I  have  not  many 
other  friends,  upon  whom  I  could  billet  myself  occasion- 
ally, without  their  complaining,  but  the  "glorious  privi- 
lege of  being  independent  "  is  essential  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  hospitality  of  friends,  however  dear 

New  York,  June  24,  1863*  ....  My  whereabouts  is 
here  in  New  York,  and  here  it  has  been  since  May  28, 
the  day  of  my  return  from  Bordentown.  In  this  interim 
I  have  been  a  fixture  in  the  Astor  Library,  rarely  mov- 
ing farther  from  it  than  to  cross  the  street  to  meals 

And  now  as  to  my  plans  for  the  rest  of  the  summer  —  I 
have  none  beyond  a  few  of  the  early  days  in  July.  When 
Mrs.  Astor  went  to  the  country  she  left  a  very  cordial 
note  of  invitation  for  me  to  make  her  a  visit  when  I 
should  find  it  convenient,  leaving  it  to  me  to  fix  the 
time.  As  I  have  usually  made  her  a  visit  about  the  4th 
of  July,  I  proposed  to  do  the  same  this  year,  and  it  is 
now  fixed  for  that  time.     But  I  feel,  dear  Mrs.  Ticknor, 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Newport. 


Age  76.]  THE  NEW    YORK  RIOTS.  293 

that  I  am  no  longer  fit  to  be  among  people,  anywhere. 
It  is  very  distressing  to  be  obliged  to  ask  persons  to  re- 
peat their  conversation  addressed  to  you,  or,  what  is 
worse,  to  show  that  you  do  not  heed  what  they  say.  I 
prefer  to  be  really  alone,  to  being  alone  in  the  midst  of 
society.  In  solitude  one  may  preserve  cheerfulness,  but 
the  vacant  stare  which  marks  the  countenance  of  a  deaf 
person,  when  trying  to  listen  to  conversation,  is  next  akin 
to  idiocy.  It  is  this  which  makes  me  shy  of  going  any- 
where but  among  intimate  friends,  who  know  how  to 
pitch  their  voices  to  the  right  key  for  my  surdity,  and, 
not  liking  to  give  trouble,  I  shall  have  to  renounce  soci- 
ety altogether,  and  live  the  life  of  a  recluse  for  the  rest 
of  my  days. 

New  York,  July  15,  1863*  Since  Monday  our  city 
has  been  besieged  by  an  enemy  vastly  more  to  be  dreaded 
than  the  rebels,  and  now  I  write  in  the  uncertainty  of 
being  able  to  transmit  my  note  to  you.  For  the  moment 
the  rioters  are  silenced,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  riot  is 
not  ended We  understood  yesterday  that  Gover- 
nor Morgan's  house  was  to  be  sacked  and  fired  last  night, 
and  as  it  is  directly  opposite  the  Library,  we  naturally 
feared  for  its  safety.  It  has  no  protection  against  vio- 
lence, and  nothing  but  iron  shutters  to  protect  it  against 
conflagration 

Just  before  midnight  a  bright  light  burst  in  through 
my  north  window,1  from  some  buildings  on  fire  on  the 
east  side  of  the  city.     On  getting  out  upon  the  roof  I 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 
1  In  the  Library  Building. 


294  JOSEPH   GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1863. 

found  the  fire  was  extensive  and  the  buildings  large,  as 
the  flames  rose  very  high  in  the  air.  It  was  one  of  the 
most  solemn  scenes  I  ever  witnessed.  As  I  swept  the 
horizon  I  discovered  buildings  on  fire  in  three  different 
directions.  All  the  ordinary  movements  of  this  gay  city 
were  stilled.  Not  a  car  or  omnibus  of  any  kind  was 
heard,  and  not  even  the  voices  of  the  throngs  which  gen- 
erally gather  at  such  times.  A  portentous  silence  pre- 
vailed, interrupted  only  by  the  tolling  of  the  alarm  bells. 
I  fancied  that  I  should  see  a  belt  of  fires  breaking  out  in 
every  quarter,  and  the  demon  of  destruction  hovering  in 
triumph  over  the  whole  of  this  devoted  city.  I  was  too 
anxious  to  feel  the  want  of  sleep,  and  remained  on  the 
roof,  meditating  upon  the  scene,  until  I  found  my  clothes 
saturated  with  the  damps  of  night,  warning  me  to  go  be- 
low. We  hear  this  morning  that  all  the  troops  sent  from 
New  York  to  Pennsylvania  have  been  recalled.  When 
they  come  the  riot  may  be  quelled ;  in  the  mean  while 
the  gas  works  may  be  destroyed  and  the  Croton  water 
be  cut  off,  as  they  threaten  to  do.  Already  the  usual 
supplies  for  the  market  are  partially  intercepted,  and  the 
milkmen  entirely,  so  that  we  may  be  left  to  go  out  of  the 

world  in  total  darkness  and  in  a  state  of  starvation 

There  is  not  a  vehicle  of  any  kind  moving  to-day,  and 
I  am  afraid  there  is  no  communication  with  the  lower 
Post-office.  It  is  a  curious  sight  to  see  this  busy  bustling 
city  in  its  present  almost  noiseless  condition.  Even 
Broadway  is  gloomy. 

New  York,  July  18,  1863.*  ....  It  was  a  real  mercy 
to  me  that  I  was  too  ill  to  leave  on  Monday,  not  only  be- 

*  To  G.  Ticknor. 


Age  76.]  JOHN    WILSON.  295 

cause  I  should  have  been  exposed  in  attempting  to  reach 
the  station,  but  that  I  should  have  been  too  anxious  to 
enjoy  a  convivial  meeting  had  I  been  there.1  ....  I 
thank  you  for  letting  me  know  of  the  honor  done  me  at 
Cambridge,  which  I  had  heard  of,  but  not  seen  men- 
tioned. It  is  gratifying  to  me  as  a  kind  greeting  from 
an  old  friend  always  is.2 

Rhinebeck,3  August  27,  1863*  Dear  Mrs.  Burns, — 
If  this  note  should  have  no  intrinsic  worth,  it  has  the 
adventitious  one  of  having  taken  me  from  a  most  inter- 
esting book,  that  I  might  turn  my  thoughts  more  exclu- 
sively to  you.  I  was  sitting  out  on  the  piazza,  in  the 
sun,  intent  upon  Mrs.  Gordon's  memoir  of  her  father, 
John  Wilson,  which  I  threw  down  the  instant  the  servant 
informed  me  she  had  finished  her  work  in  the  library, 
and  that  all  was  in  order  for  me. 

Independently  of  the  interest  which  the  character  and 
genius  of  this  extraordinary  man  give  to  this  memoir,  it 
had  for  me  a  peculiar  one,  from  the  fact  that  I  had  a  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  principal  subject  of  it,  and  of  the 
others  who  assembled  with  him  at  the  Symposia  of  the 
Noctes.  Every  page  of  the  book  recalls  to  mind  some 
individual,  or  incident  connected  with  my  winter  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1818-19.  John  Wilson  was  just  then  begin- 
ning to  appear  above  the  horizon  of  the  Edinburgh  lit- 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 

1  He  had  accepted  an  invitation  to  a  the  same  honor  having  been  conferred 
Class  dinner,  at  the  time  of  Commence-  on  him  at  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  in 
ment  at  Harvard  College.  1842. 

2  This  refers  to  the  degree  of  LL.D.,  3  Where  he  was  visiting  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
conferred  on  him  this  year  at  Harvard,  Lewis  Livingston. 


296  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1863. 

crary  heavens,  already  studded  with  brilliant  stars 

Of  all  these,  John  Wilson,  on  many  accounts,  was  the 
most  attractive,  not  even  excepting  Scott.  He  was  never 
so  merely  amusing,  as  a  table  companion,  but  he  was  far 
more  eloquent,  and,  as  a  man,  commanding  vastly  more 
respect  and  admiration.  Although  a  very  high  tory,  he 
was  never  a  courtier.  He  believed  in  monarchy  and  its 
appurtenances  and  its  appendages,  as  the  best  and  most 
secure  form  of  government,  but  he  never  paid  homage 
to  any  man  merely  because  he  bore  a  title  of  nobility  or 
wore  a  diamond  star  or  cross  on  his  breast.  Mrs.  Gor- 
don has  given  another  of  his  traits  which  place  him 
above  most  men,  when  she  says  of  him  "  for  the  observ- 
ance of  conventional  formalities  he  had  a  supreme  con- 
tempt, when  they  interfered  with  good  and  honest  feelings 
of  the  heart."  My  opinion  of  Wilson  was  always  very 
high,  it  is  much  higher  now  that  I  have  learnt,  from  his 
daughter's  memoir,  that  he  thought  nothing  of  Edmund 
Kean  as  an  actor,  and  that  he  never  read  or  wrote  by  gas- 
light  

I  came  here  last  Saturday,  and  expect  to  begin  to  move 
down  the  river  again  to-morrow  or  next  day,  stopping  on 
my  way  at  Mrs.  William  Astor  Jr.'s  over  Sunday. 

New  York,  November  29,  1863.*  ,  .  .  .  "  How,  where 
and  what  "  are  the  questions  put  by  the  court,  to  which 
the  respondent  makes  answer.  How  I  am  —  quite  as 
well  as  one  of  my  years  can  hope  to  be,  in  fact  perfectly 
well  in  a  bright  day  if  not  too  cold,  and  just  the  reverse 
in  a  rainy  one  with  an  east  wind  ;  taken  altogether,  bet- 
ter, decidedly  better  than  when  last  in  Boston. 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  78.]  REMOVAL    TO    CAMBRIDGE.  297 

Where  I  am  —  in  New  York,  seated  at  my  writing 
table,  in  the  upper  story  of  the  Astor  Library.  I  have 
not  changed  my  whereabout  beyond  the  circle  of  a  mile, 
since  I  returned  from  Bordentown,  the  20th  of  October. 

What  I  am  doing —  I  am  transcribing  the  slips  of  the 
Supplementary  Catalogue,  and  am  now  on  the  300th 
folio  of  the  copy,  which  by  my  calculation  will  make  420 
pages  in  print,  and  as  I  have  fifty  more  to  copy  the  vol- 
ume will  be  not  less  than  500  pages  in  type.  The  paper 
is  promised  to-morrow,  and  if  it  comes  the  compositors 
will  begin  to  set  up  the  type  on  Monday.1 

New  York,  April  30,  1864*  ....  My  last  Saturday 
nisjht  in  New  York  is  come,  and  I  am  tired  enough  for 
it  to  be  my  last  on  earth.  I  shall  get  off  my  traps  by 
Tuesday,  or  at  farthest  by  Wednesday  morning  of  next 
week,  but  I  now  clearly  foresee  that  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  get  away,  myself,  before  Friday  afternoon  Qr  Saturday 
morning.  Closing  up  matters  requires  more  time  than 
one  calculates  upon  beforehand,  and  I  cannot  go  through 
as  much  fatigue  as  I  could  in  my  palmier  days.  I  thank 
you  very  much  for  your  offer  to  come  on  and  assist  me, 
but  what  I  have  to  do  must  be  done  by  myself.2  .... 

Cambridge,  September  25,  1864.!  ....  At  the  time 

*  To  Rev.  D.  G.  Haskins,  Cambridge.  t  To  Mrs   Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 

1  That  he  continued  for  nearly  three  May  of  this  year,  1864.  His  resignation 
years,  occupied  with  the  Supplementary  of  his  place  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
volumes  of  Catalogue,  appears,  by  a  vote  the  Astor  Library,  in  consequence  of  this 
of  acknowledgment  passed  by  the  Trus-  change  of  residence,  called  forth  some 
tees  of  the  Astor  Library,  which  will  be  flattering  and  cordial  resolutions  from 
found  a  few  pages  later.  that  body,  which  will  be  found  in  Appen- 

2  He  removed  to  Cambridge  early  in  dix  D. 

38 


298  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1864- 

I  left  New  York  (August  18),  I  drove  down  to  Walter's 
office  to  learn  the  latest  tidings  from  you,  which  to  my 
great  joy  were  highly  favorable.  I  was  then  myself 
miserably  weak,  from  a  severe  attack  that  I  had  had  at 
Bordentown,  so  weak  that  I  could  not  have  walked  to 
Wall  Street  even  to  hear  from  you,  and  now  I  am  so 
strong  that  I  walked  seven  miles,  one  morning  last  week, 
without  being  fatigued.  Yesterday  I  walked  into  Bos- 
ton, to  dine  at  Dr.  Shattuck's,  in  company  with  Sam 
Eliot  and  his  wife,  Edward  Perkins,  and  a  few  others, 
and  walked  about  town  for  two  hours  preceding  dinner. 
I  mention  these  feats  to  furnish  you  with  a  measure  of 
my  present  health  and  strength.  It  has  always  been 
so  with  me  from  first  childhood  to  second,  either  very 
ill  or  very  well ;  at  times  one  foot  in  the  grave,  at  others 
quite  able  to  run  a  race  with  Colonel  Barclay,  some  of 
the  strands  in  my  thread  of  life  always  breaking,  whilst 
others  become  twisted  tighter  and  stronger  than  ever. 
How  I  wish  I  could  say  as  much  of  our  national  consti- 
tution as  I  can  of  my  individual.  The  strands  of  that 
seem  now  attenuated  to  the  fineness  of  a  mere  spider's 
web,  and  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  to  make  a  new 

splice  in  it I  adopt  Mr.  Monroe's  sound  doctrine, 

although  expressed  in  bad  Latin,  Principia  non  Homines. 
The  Democrats  if  in  power,  whoever  leads  them,  will 
act  upon  the  worst  and  most  corrupt  principles,  whilst 
the  Republicans  can  only  act  upon  those  which  they 
have  avowed  —  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  with  somewhat  less  of  cor- 
ruption in  the  administration  of  them.  As  to  the 
chances   of   success,   they   depend    I    think    upon   the 


Age  78.]  ROUND   HILL   FESTIVAL.  299 

operations  of  our  armies  during  the  month  of  October. 
Should  our  victories  continue,  Lincoln's  reelection  is 
secured,  should  there  be  reverses,  the  scale  will  turn  in 
favor  of  McClellan 

Cambridge,  Saturday  Evening,  December  3,  [1864.]* 
Dear  Mrs.  Burns,  —  I  could  hardly  believe  my  own 
eyes  when  I  saw  your  well  known  handwriting  on  a 
letter  addressed  to  me.  It  was  the  pleasantest  sight 
that  had  passed  before  my  vision  for  many  a  long  day. 
When  it  was  brought  to  me,  it  so  happened  that  I  was 
just  going  into  Boston,  to  attend  a  Round  Hill  festival, 
which  Tom  Appleton  and  some  twenty  other  Boston 
boys  had  got  up,  in  commemoration  of  their  school-boy 
days,  and  from  kind  feeling  to  the  guide  of  their  youth.1 
My  delight  at  getting  your  letter,  and  the  warm  greeting 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  New  York. 

1  Mr.  Appleton,  in  the  article  already  memories  of  boyish  pranks,  came  break- 
quoted,  speaks  thus  of  this  occasion  :  ing  through  the  crust  of  time.  Again 
"  While  Mr.  Cogswell  was  a  resident  of  the  old  sunshine  of  the  master's  counte- 
Cambridge,  it  was  thought  desirable  that  nance  beamed  upon  his  children.  Their 
'the  boys'  still  surviving  should  again  mutual  delight  at  meeting,  they  sought 
collect  around  their  old  friend  and  mas-  vainly  to  express  ;  and  in  reply  to  the 
ter.  Invitations  to  a  dinner  given  him  toast  of  '  Prosperity  and  continued  life,' 
at  the  '  Parker  House '  were  sent  to  the  Mr.   Cogswell  read  a  beautiful  address, 

remotest   parts  of   the    Union.     Several  which  sank  deep  into  all  our  hearts 

of  the  instructors  at  Round  Hill,  and  all  Yes,  affection  ;  for  the  respect  and  rev- 

the  boys  whose  distance  from  the  scene  erence  which  we  bore  to  our  dear  master 

did  not  preclude  them,  were  at  the  ban-  were  intwined  with  a  feeling  softer  and 

quet.      Words   fail  to  picture  the   sym-  tenderer   than   the   austerity  of  a   boy's 

pathetic    crowd    of   associations    which  duty.     He  seemed,  in  the  making  of  us, 

gathered   there.      Men   who    pass   each  so  much  one  of  ourselves,  the  leader  of 

other  in  the  street  with  a  nod  of  hurry  us  all.     And  among  the  roll  of  eminent 

and  business,  those  who  never  even  meet  names  which  can  be  found  upon  the  cata- 

now,  were  all  subdued  to  boyhood  again  logue  of  the  school,  none  can  be   held 

by  the  spirit  of  the  hour.    Old  anecdotes  as  nobler,  manlier,   more  beloved   than 

were   told,    familiar   nicknames,    bits    of  his." 


300  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1864. 

given  mc  by  my  boys,  both  together,  made  me  so  far 
lose  my  balance  that  I  returned  to  Cambridge,  at  a  late 
hour,  in  a  state  of  complete  intoxication.  Do  not  be 
alarmed,  my  dear  friend,  the  intoxication  was  not  caused 
by  wine  or  alcoholic  drinks,  but  by  large  draughts  of 
exhilarating  gas,  imbibed  in  the  sublimated  state,  of  a 
charming  letter  from  a  very  dear  friend,  and  the  most 
cordial  possible  greeting  from  a  set  of  fine  fellows,  who 
had  kept  their  hearts  warm  for  me  from  thirty  to  forty 
years. 

The  talk  at  table  consisted  mainly  of  school-boy 
reminiscences.  It  was  very  delightful  to  find  that  they 
remembered  well  all  of  good  that  I  ever  did  them,  and 
had  treasured  up  nothing  of  the  evil.  They  told  many 
pleasant  stories  of  their  youthful  freaks,  of  their  way 
of  making  me  believe,  as  they  thought,  in  their  inno- 
cence, and  of  their  mode  of  helping  each  other  out  of 
a  scrape,  occasioning  much  laughter  and  many  a  joke. 
I  made  them  a  little  address,1  in  which  I  told  my  side 
of  the  story,  and  proved  to  them  that,  if  the  rogues 
sometimes  escaped  punishment,  it  was  not  because  they 
were  not  found  out ;  and  then  we  had  pleasant  speeches 
from  Dr.  Beck,  and  Mr.  Hillard,  who,  with  Professor 
Pierce,  was  also  of  the  party,  having  all  been  collabo- 
rators at  the  school.  In  this  way  we  spent  five  hours 
in  a  rationally  gay  and  most  genial  mood,  and  separated 
with  regret  at  a  late  hour,  and  with  hearts  refreshed 
with  pleasant  recollections  of  early  days,  and  kind  feel- 
ings for  each  other  renewed  by  the  opportunity  we  had 
enjoyed  of  renewing  acquaintance. 

1  This  address  was  printed  for  private  circulation,  and  will  be  found  in  Appen- 
dix C. 


Age  78.]  VISITS  OF  INQUIRY.  3OJ 

But  the  letter  was  never  for  an  instant  forgotten 
amidst  all  the  merriment  and  enjoyment.  My  first 
thought  the  next  morning  was  to  sit  down  and  answer 
it.  Before  I  could  carry  my  purpose  into  execution 
Dr.  Beck  came  in  to  know  if  I  received  my  bouquet 
safely,  which  I  had  left  on  the  table  and  was  brought 
up  by  him,  and  how  I  found  myself  after  the  frolic. 
He  had  just  left,  when  Mr.  Ticknor  called  to  see  if  I 
was  alive,  as  I  had  not  shown  myself  at  his  house  nor 
written  him  a  line  for  three  weeks  or  more,  except  to 
say  I  was  too  ill  to  accept  his  invitation  to  a  Thanks- 
giving dinner.  When  I  told  him  what  I  had  done  the 
preceding  evening,  he  laughed  most  heartily  to  find  he 
had  come  out  from  Boston  to  see  a  sick  friend  as  he 
supposed,  and  be  told  that  his  sick  friend  had  just 
returned  from  a  regular  Schmaus,  with  a  parcel  of  boys 
some  years  younger  than  himself.  Next  came  Tom 
Appleton  with  inquiries  on  the  part  of  the  boys,  if  they 
had  been  the  death  of  me,  and  our  dinner  bell  rang 
before  I  was  rid  of  all  my  visitors.  When  I  rose  from 
table,  I  found  a  carriage  at  the  door  to  take  me  over  to 
Brookline  to  make  a  promised  visit  ....  and  on  my 
return  I  found  company  which  did  not  depart  until  past 
eleven  at  night 

But  I  must  not  forget  to  answer  the  question  you  put 
to  me  in  your  letter,  when  am  I  to  be  in  my  New  York 
home  ?  I  take  it  you  mean  by  this,  my  home  in  the 
Library,  which,  however,  Mrs.  and  Mr.  Astor  will  not 
allow  me  to  occupy  for  the  present,  most  kindly  off  r- 
ing  me  a   pleasanter  one    under  their  own  hospitable 


302  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1864. 

roof.  Thai  I  expect  to  take  possession  of  about  New 
Year,  on  my  return  from  Bordentown,  where  I  have 
been  engaged  to  spend  Christmas  ever  since  Septem- 
ber. 


It  is  very  agreeable  to  have  received  permission  to 
place  here  the  following  genial  letter,  from  an  absent 
Round  Hill  pupil,  whose  honors  and  distinctions  had 
not  diminished  his  affectionate  feeling  for  his  old  teacher. 

J.   Lothrop  Motley  to  J.  G.  Cogswell. 

Vienna,  April  2d,  1865. 

My  dear  Mr.  Cogswell, —  A  short  time  ago  I  re- 
ceived a  note  from  Mr.  Wales,  together  with  a  little 
pamphlet  which  he  was  so  thoughtful  as  to  send  me, 
knowing  instinctively  how  much  pleasure  it  would  give 
me. 

The  pamphlet  consisted  simply  of  the  remarks  made 
by  yourself  at  the  Testimonial  Dinner  given  to  you  at 
the  Parker  House  by  Round  Hill  scholars. 

My  first  emotion  was  one  of  deep  regret  that  it  had 
not  been  my  good  fortune  to  be  associated  with  so  many 
of  my  ancient  comrades  in  this  affectionate  tribute  to 
one  so  venerated  and  beloved,  and  by  none  of  them 
more  so  than  by  myself. 

I  read  your  beautiful  speech  with  an  almost  painful 
interest.  And  as  I  read  it,  forty  years  seemed  to  roll  off 
my  back,  and  I  was  a  small  boy  again  in  the  never  for- 


Age  73.]  LETTER  FROM  MR.   MOTLEY.  303 

gotten  chestnut  groves  of  Round  Hill.  The  tenderness 
and  truth  of  the  sentiments,  and  the  fidelity  of  the 
painting,  gave  me  a  most  sincere  though  melancholy 
pleasure,  much  akin  to  that  caused  by  the  photograph  of 
yourself  which  embellishes  the  first  page,  and  in  which 
I  recognized  at  the  first  glance  the  familiar  face  of  the 
benignant  teacher  and  master  of  my  childhood,  and  the 
kind  and  ever  sympathizing  friend  of  riper  years. 

It  wouldn't  be  agreeable  either  to  my  taste  or  my  feel- 
ings to  make  fine  phrases  about  that  beautiful  little  vol- 
ume of  seven  pages,  which  now  lies  before  me,  as  if  it 
were  the  author's  presentation  copy  of  a  new  work,  but 
I  can't  help  saying  that  I  have  read  it  many  times,  and 
that  the  oftener  I  read  it  the  more  deeply  do  I  feel  that 
"  simple  truth  is  highest  skill." 

It  produces  on  my  imagination  the  effect  of  an  ex- 
quisite idyl  —  exactly  the  effect  which  the  greatest  artist 
in  words,  if  writing  from  the  brain  and  not  from  the 
heart,  would  probably  have  failed  to  produce.  I  will  say 
no  more,  except  to  repeat  my  regret  that  I  could  not 
have  been  among  the  old  pupils  who  paid  this  tribute 
not  only  to  yourself,  but  to  those  three  eminent  and 
honored  associates  of  yours,  who,  as  I  see,  were  also 
present  at  the  dinner. 

No,  my  dear  old  friend,  not  one  of  your  numerous 
family  ever  thinks  of  Round  Hill  and  of  Do-the-Boys 
Hall  at  the  same  time,  except  through  the  association  of 
contrast,  and  I  don't  know  how  you  could  more  adroitly 
have  complimented  yourself  than  by  that  protest 

I  infer  from  Mr.  Wales's  note  that  you  are  living  in 
Cambridge,  but,  as  I  am  not  certain  of  the  address,  I 


304  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1864. 

shall  enclose  this  to  him  to  forward.  And  with  the 
most  sincere  prayers  for  your  health  and  happiness  I  re- 
main, my  dear  Mr.  Cogswell, 

Your  ever  affectionate  pupil, 

J.  Lothrop  Motley. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

1864-1867.  —  Finishes    Supplementary  Catalogue.  —  Visits  in    New 
York,  and   Bordentown,  and  on  the  Hudson. 

/"""AM BRIDGE,  December  30,  1864*  ....  If  you 
^--/  received  a  short  note  from  me,  which  I  wrote  dur- 
ing the  visit  I  made  to  the  Ticknors,  about  a  fort- 
night since,  you  will  know  how  I  was  deprived  of  the 
happiness  I  had  promised  myself  from  a  long  visit  in 
Bordentown.  My  old  enemy,  neuralgia,  came  upon  me 
just  as  I  was  preparing  for  my  journey  and  still  holds  me 

in  his  iron  grasp Do  not  imagine  that  any  one 

could  have  power  to  keep  me  away  from  Bordentown  if  I 
could  possibly  get  there  ;  I  am  too  happy  there,  and  love 
you  all  too  much  to  be  contented  anywhere  else.  The 
finishing  off  of  my  last  volume,  of  Astor  Library  Cata- 
logue, would  have  made  it  necessary  for  me  to  spend  a 
week  or  ten  days  in  the  Library  to  verify  some  of  my 

work But  I   can  do  neither  at  present,  for  I  am 

wholly  unable  to  do  any  writing,  except  for  a  few  minutes 
at  a  time 

New  York,  July  7,  1865J  ....    Although   I  have 
arrived  at  the  age  of  discretion  I  am  not  out  of  guardian- 

*  To  Mrs   Mailliard,  Bordentown.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Brookline. 

39 


306  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1865. 

ship.  I  can  only  tell  you  what  I  propose  to  do, 
wherein  I  enjoy  personal  liberty.  The  remainder  of  this 
month,  or  a  greater  part  of  it,  is  set  apart  for  completing 
the  Subject  Alphabetical  Index,  of  the  Astor  Library 
Catalogue.    August  is  parcelled  out  among  friends  on  the 

North  River In  September  I  expect  to  print  the 

Index,  and,  whether  completed  or  not,  I  shall  then  return 
to  Cambridge  and  make  it  my  home,  until  the  frosts  of 
winter,  and  consequent  neuralgia  drive  me  to  a  warmer 
region.  This  is  my  present  prospective  plan,  for  the 
rest  of  this  year,  but  I  am  far  from  indulging  a  confident 
expectation  that  I  shall  live  to  carry  it  out.  To  say 
nothing  of  age,  I  am  constantly  reminded,  by  other  in- 
firmities, that  my  life  hangs  upon  a  very  slender  thread. 
I  am  still  a  guest  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor.  He  and  Mrs. 
A.  have  both  been  very  kind  to  me,  during  my  present 
visit  to  New  York,  and  I  have  no  doubt  I  owe  the  good 
measure  of  health  I  now  enjoy,  to  the  care  and  generous 
living  I  have  had  while  under  their  roof. 

New  York,  September  4,  1865*  ....  A  very  long 
time  must  have  elapsed  since  I  heard  from  you,  so  long- 
even  that  I  have  forgotten  when  it  was  precisely,  I  only 
know  that  it  was  after  the  4th  of  July.  Then  I  was 
counting  upon  having  an  idle  month  of  August,  and 
loafing  it  all  away  among  friends  on  the  North  River, 
instead  of  which  I  kept  here  hard  at  work,  resolved  that 
I  would  not  stop,  until  I  had  accomplished  so  much  of 
my  task  as  must  be  done  here  in  the  Library.  This  was 
not  done  until  the  evening  of  Saturday,  September  2d, 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  79]  FIFTH  VOLUME  OF  CATALOGUE.  307 

and  now  I  have  only  to  make  a  copy,  for  printing  from 
the  slips,  and  the  tedious  job  will  be  off  my  hands,  which 
has  required  four  times  as  much  time  and  labor  as  I  an- 
ticipated.1 ....  I  have  not  had  an  hour's  respite  since 
July  5,  and,  during  August,  when  I  was  left  alone  in  the 
Library,  I  worked  regularly  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  hours 
every  day.  The  warm  weather  gave  me  great  strength 
and  vigor.  I  took  no  exercise,  little  sleep,  a  very  mod- 
erate quantity  of  food,  and  not  a  drop  of  wine  or  spirit- 
uous liquor  of  any  kind.  And  I  was  not  ill  an  hour, 
until  the  last  week  of  August.  To-day  I  start  for  New- 
port, where  I  am  going  to  spend  a  week  with  Mrs.  Burns, 

during  which  I  shall  run  down  to  Cambridge My 

friends  on  the  North  River  say  I  have  treated  them  very 
shabbily,  but  as  I  have  treated  them  all  alike,  they  cannot 
complain  of  partiality.  I  foresaw  clearly,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  August,  that  my  work  or  my  friends  must  be 
slighted,  and  I  had  no  hesitation  about  the  alterna- 
tive  

Boston,  December  31,  1865.*  ....  It  gives  real  joy 
to  my  heart  to  know  that  the  closing  year  is  crowned  with 
so  many  and  such  great  blessings   for  you.     I   know  it 

*  To  Mrs.  Lewis  Livingston,  New  York. 

1  The  work  was  still  far  from  ended,  was,   on  motion  of  Dr.  Markoe,  unani- 

On  the  2d  of  October,  1866,  at  a  meet-  mously  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  re- 

ing  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library,  gard   the    completion   of  this  important 

the  following  record  was   made  :  "  The  and  laborious  work,  so  indispensable  to 

Board  having  examined  the  fifth  volume  the   proper   use  of  the  Library,  and  so 

of  the  Catalogue,  submitted  at   the  last  desirable  to  the  public,  as  an  important 

meeting  by  the  Superintendent,  embra-  event   in   the   history  of  the   institution, 

cing  the  Supplementary  matter,  and  an  entitling   Dr.    Cogswell    to   the   grateful 

Analytical  Catalogue  of  the  whole  Library,  acknowledgments  of  the  Trustees,  and 

prepared  by  Dr.  Joseph  G.  Cogswell,  it  the  thanks  of  the  reading  public." 


308  yOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1866. 

will  gratify  you  to  learn  that  I,  on  my  part,  have  great 
cause  for  gratitude  to  God.  As  He  brings  me  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  close  of  life,  He  grants  me  as  much 
freedom  from  the  usual  trials  of  old  age,  as  its  condition 
ever  allows,  and  more  of  its  comforts  than  I  could  reason- 
ably expect.  First  among  the  latter  is  the  continued 
friendship  of  so  many  who  have  long  been  dear  to  me, 
and  in  addition  the  consciousness  that  I  know  not  the 
individual  whom   I    have  intentionally  injured.     God  is 

the  only  friend  to  whom  I  have  been  ungrateful 

In  a  social  point  of  view  it  is  true  I  lose  a  good  deal 
from  impaired  hearing,  on  the  other  hand  I  am  spared 
hearing  an  infinite  deal  of  nonsense.  My  eyesight  is 
still  good,  and  I  look  upon  the  beauties  of  nature  and  art 
with  as  much,  if  not  more  delight  than  ever,  and  enjoy 
a  greater  serenity  of  mind  than  I  did  when  my  cares 
were  more  distracting.  Above  all,  as  my  sun  nears  its 
western  horizon,  I  look  with  a  more  unwavering  faith  to- 
ward the  land  where  there  will  be  no  night. 

Cambridge,  Sunday  Evening,  May  6,  1866*  ....  I 
was  rejoiced  to  learn,  both  on  your  mother's  account 
and  on  yours,  that  you  had  had  such  a  delightful  tour. 
Nor  is  it  wonderful  that  it  should  have  been  so  ;  there 
is  a  charm  about  Italy  that  no  other  land  I  have  ever  vis- 
ited possesses.  In  spite  of  the  squalidness  of  every  kind 
everywhere  seen,  and  the  thousand  discomforts  which  at- 
tend the  traveller  there,  he  has  a  higher  enjoyment  than 
he  could  find  anywhere  except,  perhaps,  in  Greece  and 
Palestine.     It  presents  a  constant  triumph  of  mind  over 

*  To  William  Coleman  Bums. 


Age  79.]  CHARMS  OF  ITAL  Y.  309 

matter,  one  lives  there  so  completely  in  the  past  that  he 
comes  at  last  to  disregard  the  present,  except  to  inhale  a 
fresh  draught  occasionally  of  the  pure  exhilarating  gas 
of  the  Mediterranean,  or  look  up  in  admiration  to  the 
blue  ethereal  sky  which  canopies  him.  I  never  realized 
how  superlatively  beautiful  Italy  is  until  I  read  "  Childe 
Harold,"  and  I  never  read  any  description  of  it,  but  By- 
ron's, which  had  the  magic  power  to  call  up  the  precise 
impression  it  had  made  upon  me.  Rogers  is  really  tame 
in  comparison.  I  have  a  great  admiration  for  Switzer- 
land, and  I  confess  that  Soracte  and  Vesuvius  are  not 
Mt.  Blanc  and  Monte  Rosa,  but  then  Switzerland  has 
no  Mediterranean,  with  its  beautiful  waters,  and  its 
countless  associations.  Grand  and  sublime  as  it  is,  in  its 
one  great  feature,  it  wants  all  the  others  which  make 
Italy  so  enchanting.  My  dear  friends,  I  rejoice  that  you 
have  been  blessed  with  these  heavenly  visions. 

I  can't  send  you  anything  of  interest  about  home.  I 
have  been  a  prisoner  in  the  house  ever  since  New  Year, 
and  know  nothing  of  what  has  been  passing  in  the  gay 
world.  Early  in  the  winter  I  had  letters  from  numerous 
friends,  but  since  it  became  generally  known  that  I  was 
too  unwell  to  keep  up  a  correspondence,  they  have  stopt 
writing. 

The  world  seems  to  be  rushing  on  with  lightning 
speed  in  everything,  and  so  long  as  it  keeps  on  the  track 
it  may  do  very  well,  but  it  seems  difficult  to  conceive 
how  it  can  keep  on  with  constantly  accelerating  speed. 
The  whole  system  of  arithmetic  is  changed;  units,  hun- 
dreds, thousands  are  now  unknown  quantities,  the  col- 
umn of  millions   is   the  lowest,  now,  of  which  any  ac- 


3IO  JO  SEW  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1866. 

count  is  made.  A  man  who  does  not  come  up  to  that 
figure  is  accounted  a  pauper,  and  now  when  we  hear  of 
defalcations,  swindlings,  and  robberies,  it  is   always  in 

millions The  great  question  is,  was  the  world  ever 

better  than  it  is  now,  and  when  did  total  depravity 
begin.  I  say  it  began  when  dishonesty  in  man,  and  want 
of  virtue  in  woman,  ceased  to  be  disreputable.  I  hope 
you  have  kept  up  your  interest  in  model  lodging  houses. 
They  were  never  more  needed  in  our  great  cities,  where 
a  score  of  poor  workmen  cannot  command  as  much 
space  as  an  individual  ought  to  have.  Alas  for  man's 
inhumanity  to  man. 

I  would  like  to  tell  you  something  about  our  present 
political  condition,  if  I  could  tell  you  anything  satisfac- 
tory. The  struggle  now  going  on  between  the  President 
and  Congress  is  manifestly  a  struggle  for  power,  in 
which,  as  usual,  there  is  something  wrong  on  both  sides. 
....  I  do  not  apprehend  any  serious  evil  consequences 
from  the  conflict,  beyond  a  postponing  of  our  restoration 
to  order  and  quiet,  and  a  decided  national  degrada- 
tion  

Grasmere,  Rhinebeck,  Dutchess  Co.,  New  York 
State,  August  3,  1866.*  ....  I  left  Bordentown  last 
week,  came  to  New  York  and  spent  a  few  days,  and 
came  up  with  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor  on  Saturday,  to  his 
place,  five  miles  above  this  on  the  Hudson.  On  Tues- 
day Mrs.  Astor  sent  me  down  here1  to  make  a  promised 
visit.     As  Mrs.  Livingston  is  too  much  of  an  invalid  to 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor,  Brookline. 
1  The  country  place  of  Mr.  Lewis  Livingston. 


Age  So.]  NEED    OF  REST.  311 

be  driving  about  the  country,  and  as  there  are  no  lions 
to  be  seen  in  the  neighborhood,  I  am  allowed  to  sit 
quietly  in  the  house  and  read  my  books,  and  that  is  to 

lead  the  only  life  I  am  now  fit  for I  am  in  very 

good  condition,  now,  myself.  Dating  back  from  the 
time  when  your  kind  ministrations  began  to  build  up 
my  old  shattered  frame,  I  have  been  constantly  growing 

better The  warm  summer  has  done  much  for  my 

restoration,  but  the  kindness  of  friends  has  done  still 
more,  and  among  them  there  is  no  one  to  whom  I  owe 
more,  or  to  whom  I  feel  more  grateful  than  I  do  to  you. 
There  is  a  way  of  being  kind  that  makes  the  kindness 
doubly  serviceable  and  valuable. 

According  to  present  prospects  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
get  to  Cambridge  again  until  past  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber. I  have  been  obliged  to  promise  more  visits  than 
can  be  made  in  two  months. 

Bordentown,  September  28,  1866.*  ....  Constant 
change  of  place  and  constant  excitement  during  the 
whole  of  August  quite  exhausted  me,  so  that  I  was  very 
glad  to  return  to  the  quiet  shades  of  Bordentown  for 
rest,  and  I  could  find  no  place  in  which  I  should  enjoy 
so  much  tranquillity  and  so  much  kindness  combined,  as 
here.  I  am,  however,  too  feeble,  now,  to  enjoy  even  rest. 
Almost  my  only  consciousness  of  existence  is  in  its 
wearisomeness,  and  yet  I  cling  to  life.  I  have  friends 
too  dear  to  be  parted  from  forever,  even  in  this  world, 
without  the  deepest  regret.  I  am  hoping  to  prolong  my 
life  a  year  or  two  by  getting  away  from  our  severe  north- 

*  To  W.  C.  Burns. 


312  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1866. 

em  winter,  and  reluctant  as  I  am  to  living  among  South- 
ern rebels,  I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  I  have  no 
other  alternative  but  that  or  death. 

The  place  I  have  selected  to  winter  in  is  Savannah, 
and  I  have  letters  from  there,  assuring  me  that  I  shall 
be  made  very  comfortable  in  every  respect,  and  not  be 
molested  in  any  way  from  being  a  Northerner.  .... 
I  have  planned  this  arrangement  with  especial  reference 
to  be  able  to  await  your  mother's  and  your  return,  that 
I  may  be  able  to  see  you,  and  go  off  South  cheered  by 
the  knowledge  that  you  are  well  and  safe  at  home.  I 
shall  not  fix  any  definite  time  for  my  departure,  until  I 
know  for  certain  when  you  are  to  arrive  in  America 

New  York,  November  20,  1866*  Dear  Mrs.  Ticknor, 
—  If  you  will  promise  not  to  look  upon  me  as  the  most 
capricious  of  old  children,  I  will  tell  you  something.  I 
have  given  up  my  project  of  wintering  in  the  South,  and 
if  you  will  promise  not  to  make  fun  of  me,  I  will  tell 
you  why.  Two  months  of  perfect  rest  down  at  Borden- 
town  had  made  me  feel  so  strong  and  vigorous,  I 
thought  I  could  do  anything,  and,  in  the  pride  of  my 
strength,  I  accepted  Mr.  Jones's  kind  offer  to  occupy  a 
part  of  his  Savannah  house,  all  alone  by  myself,  at  the 
tender  mercies  of  his  negro  servants,  distributed  in  the 
adjoining  cabins  of  the  yard.  But  the  day  of  trial  came, 
in  time  to  save  me  from  the  perilous  adventure.  The 
influenza  laid  heavy  hands  upon  me,  and  showed  me 
that  I  was  not  able  to  take  care  of  myself  in  sickness. 
This  made  me  doubt  of  the  wisdom  of  my  decision,  and 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  So.]  DREAD    OF  THE    WINTER.  313 

when  I  discovered  that  the  steamer  Hermann  Livingston, 
in  which  I  had  taken  my  passage  for  the  29th,  was 
changed  for  another  far  less  trustworthy,  I  sent  and  re- 
claimed my  passage  money 

Cambridge,  December  5,  1866.*.  .  .  .  The  weather  has 
been  very  favorable  since  I  came  to  Cambridge,  but 
still  I  find  myself  losing  ground  every  day,  principally 
in  strength.  A  walk  of  half  a  mile  fatigues  me  more 
than  one  of  five  and  a  half  miles  did,  in  New  York, 
the  day  after  I  left  Bordentown.  I  am  never  so  well 
anywhere  as  I  am  when  under  your  care,  and  if  I  could 
reconcile  it  to  my  sense  of  right  to  impose  so  unreason- 
ably upon  your  kindness,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  accept 
the  invitations,  so  warmly  and  cordially  offered,  to  re- 
turn to  Bordentown  for  the  winter.  We  have  no  cold 
severe  enough  to  enable  me  to  judge  what  will  be  the 
effect  of  real  winter  upon  me.  I  trust  I  shall  be  able 
to  bear  up  under  any  degree  of  intensity  to  which  I 
may  be  subject.  It  may  be  that  I  may  still  be  obliged 
to  retreat  into  warmer  latitudes,  but  it  will  not  be  to 
Savannah 

The  children  must  not  count  too  much  upon  the  con- 
tents of  the  box.  I  tried  to  find  something  to  please 
them,  but  it  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  to  please 
children's  tastes,  and  I  may  not  have  succeeded  at  all. 
They  will,  however,  accept  them,  I  know,  as  an  evidence 
of  my  love  for  them,  and  of  my  wish  to  gratify  and 
help  make  them  merry. 

*  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  Bordentown. 
40 


314  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1866-1867. 

Cambridge,  December  11,  1866.*  ....  It  is  of  no 
use  for  me  to  try  to  be  well  or  contented  anywhere  but 
in  Bordentown,  and  if  you  have  the  kindness  and  com- 
passion to  tolerate  such  a  helpless,  worthless,  miserable 
vieillard  as  I  am,  such  a  deed  of  mercy  will  not  be  for- 
gotten in  the  great  day  of  account,  and  I  am  only  too 
happy  to  accept  the  offered,  and  so  cordially  offered 
kindness. 

I  shall  set  out  from  Cambridge  the  first  mild  day  of 
next  week,  and  do  my  best  to  reach  Bordentown  ere  its 
close 

Cambridge,  Thursday  Evening,  i^th  \_December\.  t 
My  dear  William,  —  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  very 
kind  offer  to  accompany  me  in  my  exodus  from  this 
place  to  Bordentown,  and  as  I  know  how  sincerely  it  is 
made,  I  should  accept  it  without  scruple,  were  I  not 
already  provided  with  an  escort.  Mr.  Haskins  has  oc- 
casion to  go  to  New  York  in  the  course  of  next  week, 
and   will    be   ready   to   accompany  me,   whenever   the 

weather  should   be   favorable I  am  much  better 

than  when  I  wrote  last. 

Bordentown,  N.  J.,  Januarys  1867. %  ....  The 
weather  has  been  so  mild  since  I  came  to  Bordentown, 
I  know  not  how  much  of  my  better  health  I  owe  to  the 
mildness  of  the  season,  or  how  much  to  the  milder 
climate,  but  I  do  know  that  as  yet  I  have  none  of  the 
severe  bodily  aches  under  which   I  suffered  about  this 

*  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  Bordentown.  t  To  Wm.  Coleman  Burns. 

%  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor. 


Age  8o]  SINGULAR   HABITS.  315 

time  last  year  at  Cambridge.  I  can  go  out  from  a  room 
warmed  up  to  the  temperature  of  seventy-four  degrees, 
and  walk  for  an  hour  without  an  overcoat,  and  without 
taking  or  feeling  cold,  and  I  can  sleep  with  a  window 
in  my  room  open  through  the  night  with  a  like  im- 
punity. The  last  is  a  thing  I  have  never  before  ven- 
tured to  do  in  all  my  long  life. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

1867-1869.  —  Continued  Activity. —  Home  in  Cambridge.  —  Visits 
at  Bordentown  and  Philadelphia,  New  York,  North  River,  and 
Duanesburg. 

T) ORDENT OW N,  Marc/i  24,  1867.* After  being 

*-*    weather  bound  nearly  three  weeks  I  am  obliged  to 

start  for  Philadelphia  to-morrow  fair  or  foul I  must 

be  at  least  a  year  older  than  I  was  in  1864-5  an<^  6,  but 
in  so  far  as  feelings  and  strength  are  concerned,  I  am 
many  years  younger.  I  really  feel  so  strong,  at  times, 
that  I  fear  it  is  portentous  of  an  approaching  final  ex- 
tinction, like  the  strong  flare-up  of  a  light  just  before 
it  goes  out,  and  then,  again,  I  get  an  idea  into  my  head 
that  I  must  turn  this  newly  acquired  bodily  vigor  to 
some  good  purpose,  either  by  helping  you  to  carry  out 
some  of  your  benevolent  plans,  or  taking  passage  in  a 
steamer  of  the  San  Francisco  and  Yokohama  line,  and 
going  to  Japan,  to  rummage  among  the  shops  there 
for  some  pretty  things  for  Mrs.  Burns.  At  any  rate 
I  must  find  some  windmills,  to  spend  my  exuberant 
strength  upon. 

I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  the  subject  which  we  have 
so  often   talked  over,  that  of  better  lodging  houses  for 

*  To  W.  C.  Burns,  New  York. 


Age  So.]  COMMENCEMENT  A  7'  HAR  VARD.  3 1 7 

the   laboring  classes,  is   daily  exciting  more  and  more 

attention I  regard  that  now  as  the  first  want  to 

be  supplied  in  our  great  cities.  It  is  a  reproach  to  a 
Christian  community  that  human  beings  should  be 
allowed,  nay,  compelled  to  herd  together  like  brute 
beasts. 

Bordentown,  July  3,  1867.*.  ...  I  have  been  away 
from  Cambridge  just  three  weeks,  six  days  of  which 
were  spent  in  Newport,  six  at  West  Point,  the  rest  in 

New  York  and  here After  knocking  about  for 

a  fortnight  it  was  a  real  comfort  to  get  into  such  a  quiet 
resting  place  as  I  have  here,  where  there  is  nothing 
around  me  but  beautiful  trees  and  green  fields,  scenery 
which  I  am  still  capable  of  enjoying,  and  which  I  am 
now  enjoying  for  the  last  time.  Mrs.  Mailliard  is  to  go 
to  California  in  December,  so  soon  as  Mr.  M.  returns 
from  France,  where  he  goes  in  August  to  see  his  father. 
He  urged  me  to  go  with  him,  and  I  should  have  been 
tempted  to  do  it  had  he  planned  his  return  in  a  better 
season Next  week  I  am  to  return  to  Cambridge. 

Cambridge,  July  20,  1867.!  ....  I  have  been  through 
the  regular  Commencement  siege  this  week,  beginning 
with  a  class  commemoration  and  jollification,  at  the  Re- 
vere House  in  Boston,  on  Monday.  The  boys  who  took 
their  degree  in  18 17,  and  who  had  been  under  my  in- 
struction,1 urged  me  so  strongly  to  join  in  the  festivity,  I 
could  not  refuse,  and,  as  there  was  but  one  of  the  num- 

*  To  Mrs.  G.  Ticknor,  Brookline.  t  To  W.  C.  Bums,  Newport. 

1  When  he  was  Tutor  at  Harvard  College. 


318  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1867. 

ber  under  seventy,  I  did  not  anticipate  any  undue  merri- 
ment. We  sat  down  twenty-three  at  table,  at  half-past 
four,  and,  as  I  afterwards  learnt,  twenty-two  of  them  did 
not  rise  from  it  until   half-past   eleven.     I    waited   until 

nine,  expecting ,  who  sat  opposite  to  me,  would 

make  a  move  to  quit,  and  when  I  saw  he  did  not,  and 
did  not  intend  to,  I  slipt  out  quietly.  I  had  not  seen  most 
of  these  young  men  for  fifty  years,  and  I  could  not  but 
note  the  remarkable  change  in  their  appearance  that  this 
interval  had  made.  The  hair  which  used  to  be  on  the 
top  of  their  heads  had  slipped  down  about  their  mouths 
and  chins,  and  turned  from  black  and  brown,  to  grisly 
gray  or  snow  white.  I  could  not  return  the  compliment, 
if  compliment  it  could  be  called,  which  some  of  them 
foolishly  attempted  to  pay  me,  that  I  looked  just  as  I 
used  to,  for  most  of  them  looked  so  little  like  what  "  they 
used  to  was,"  I  did  not  recognize  them  and  had  to  be  in- 
troduced  

The  next  day  but  one  Wednesday  [Commencement] 
I  was  detached  for  fatigue  duty,  and  went  through  it  all 
manfully ;  and  a  hard  day's  work  it  was.  I  sat  on  the 
stage  among  the  Dons,  and  heard  enough  of  the  speeches 
to  be  convinced  that  no  great  improvement  had  been 
made  since  my  time,  either  in  matter  or  manner  of  Col- 
lege orators.  As  I  enlisted  for  the  war,  I  had  to  go  to 
muster  again  on  Thursday,  so  I  tied  a  bit  of  blue  and 
red  ribbon  in  my  button  hole,  and  joined  the  Fie  !  Betty 

Caps When  I  got  home  on  Thursday  evening  I 

was  so  completely  fagged  out  I  could  not  sit  up,  and  I 
felt  no  inclination,  the  next  day,  to  go  to  Worcester  to 
see  the  Yale  and  Harvard  boat  race,  which  proved,  I  hear, 


Age  8i.]  AN  ANNIVERSAR  Y.  319 

a  great  triumph  to  Harvard.  It  seems  to  me  that  these 
athletic  exercises,  both  base  ball  and  boating,  are  doine 
as  much  harm  as  good,  even  physically,  now  that  they 
are  carried  to  extremes,  and  it  is  manifest  that  young 
men  are  now  more  ambitious  to  excel  in  them,  than  in 
scholarship.  .... 

Bordentown,  September  22,  1867.*  ....  Soon  after 
the  first  of  October  I  shall  wing  my  way,  not  as  the  birds 
do  at  this  season,  but  in  the  opposite  direction.  The 
Mailliards  will  be  breaking  up  and  preparing  for  a  start 
to  California  l  soon  after,  and  then  I  shall  have  no  home 
but  Cambridge. 

Bordentown,  September  27,  1867.1  My  dear  Ticknor, 
—  My  special  reason  for  writing  to  you  to-day  is  that  it 
is  my  birth-day,  and  now  that  so  few  friends  of  my  early 
years  are  left  to  me,  I  try  to  gather  about  me  those  that 
remain.  Of  these  there  is  no  one  who  has  been  so  long 
and  so  uniformly  kind  to  me  as  yourself,  and  no  one  for 
whom  I  feel  so  warm  affection.  Please  to  receive  this 
as  my  heartfelt  greeting,  on  the  morning  of  this  to  me 
important  anniversary 

I  have  spent  the  two  months,  since  I  parted  from  you 
in  Brookline,  very  quietly  here,  and  unfavorable  as  the 
weather  has  been  generally,  I  have  had   not  my  usual 

*  To  W.  C.  Burns,  Newport.  t  To  G.  Ticknor,  Brookline. 

1  In  a  later  letter,  he  says  :  "  Both  she  against  my  going   are  many  and  strong, 

and  Mr.  M.  have  urged  me  to  accompany  first  among  them  is,  that  my  roots  here 

them,  and  I  have  no  doubt  with  perfect  have   struck   too   deep  to  be  pulled  up, 

sincerity,  for  they  have  uniformly  treated  while  life  is  left  in  one  of  the  smallest  of 

me  so  kindly,  it  would  be  base  ingrati-  their  fibres." 
tude  in  me  to  doubt  them.     The  reasons 


320  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1867. 

proportion  of  days  of  suffering Last  Monday  I 

made  a  little  trip  to  Philadelphia,  and  spent  the  whole 
time  there  in  running  about,  extending  my  walks  from 
the  Delaware  to  the  Schuylkill  in  one  direction,  and 
from  Vine  Street  to  Spring  Gardens  in  the  other,  mak- 
ing good  six  miles,  with  almost  no  resting.  On  my  re- 
turn to  Bordentown  I  did  not  find  myself  either  wearied 

or  exhausted 

We  have  fallen  on  perilous  times  and  still  more  peril- 
ous seem  to  be  impending I  have  no  confidence  in 

the  wisdom  of  rulers  or  people.  The  former  are  rogues 
and  the  latter  dupes.  Quicquid  delirant  reges,  plectun- 
tur  Achivi.  You  see  the  leaven  of  old  Essex  Juntoism  * 
has  never  got  out  of  me.  I  am  a  full  believer  in  what 
Calhoun  once  confessed  to  me,  "  the  old  Federal  party  is 
the  only  honest  party  the  country  has  ever  had."  .... 

Cambridge,  November  4,   1867.*  ....  I  left  Borden- 
town on  the  7th  of  October On  getting  here  I  at 

once  set  myself  at  work,  getting  my  house  in  order  for 
my  departure  for  some  tropical  region,  or  the  more  dis- 
tant bourne,  as  the  case  may  be.  During  three  weeks  I 
was  incessantly  occupied  in  reading  over  and  burning 

old  letters  and  papers While  occupied  in  this  act 

of  vandalism,  my  organ  of  destructiveness  became  so 
protruding,  that  I  feared  I  might  be  tempted  to  incen- 
diarize  the  Colleges,  and  so  I  started  off  one  morning,  to 
get  into  the  first  train  that  I  found  moving  toward  some, 

*  To  W.  C.  Burns,  Newport. 

1  The   Essex  Junto  was  the    popular     influence    in    Salem,    Beverly,   and    the 
name  given  to  a  knot  of  leading  Federal-     neighborhood, 
ists  of  Essex  County,  men  of  note  and 


Age8i.]  ALWAYS   ON  THE   WING.  32 1 

to  me,  terra  incognita ;  and  was  landed,  after  a  time,  upon 
Plymouth  Rock,  where  an  entire  new  train  of  thoughts 
was  called  up.  The  people  there,  taking  me  for  one  of 
the  company  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  in  1620, 
were  curious  to  know  where  I  had  been  in  the  mean- 
while, and  said  I  must  be  put  in  the  museum  among  the 
relics.  But  when  I  proved  to  them  that  I  was  neither 
Governor  Bradstreet,  nor  Elder  Brewster,  nor  Mary  Chil- 
ton, nor  Bethlehem  Gabor,  nor  the  Wandering  Jew,  they 
let  me  go  in  peace.  The  same  night  I  got  back  to  Cam" 
bridge  in  a  quieter  and  less  dangerous  state  of  mind 

Cambridge,  December  12,  1867*  ....  I  too  am  quite 
busy  getting  ready  for  a  move,  and  have  fixed  on  this 
day  week,  if  weather  favors,  and  if  not,  the  first  fair  day 
after,  for  my  migration  southward.  New  York  will  be 
my  first  port  de  relache,  and  not  unlikely  d'hivernage. 
....  No  doubt  my  friends,  generally,  think  it  would 
better  comport  with  my  age  and  dignity  to  stay  at  home 
quietly,  instead  of  being  forever  on  the  wing,  but  I  am 
such  a  crooked  stick  I  cannot  lie  still,  and  as  I  have 
been  a  rover  all  my  life,  I  am  too  old  to  change  my 
habits  and  settle  down  now.  Then  friends  are  kind 
enough  to  invite  me  to  come  and  make  them  visits,  and 
as  I  know  so  little  of  the  world,  I  never  suspect  they 
do  not  mean  what  they  say,  so  that  if  they  are  caught, 
they  are  fairly  repaid  for  their  want  of  sincerity. 

And  why  should  I  not  sweeten  the  dregs  of  life  when 
I  can  ?  If  I  were  to  give  up,  and  stay  at  home  and 
mope,  I  should  soon  become  an  inert  mass  of  matter, 

*  To  Mrs.  Wm.  Burns,  Newport. 
4i 


322  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL^  [1868. 

and  my  heart  would  grow  stone  cold  long  before  it 
ceased  to  beat.  Conscious  that  I  am  unfitted  for  large 
assemblies  I  do  not  care  to  join  them,  but  I  never 
loved  the  few  who  are  dear  to  me  more  than  I  do  now, 
and  never  enjoyed  being  with  them  more  highly ;  and 
whilst  they  do  not  tire  of  me  I  cannot  give  up  that  en- 
joyment which  is,  next  to  one,  the  sweetest  cup  in  life. 

Nor  do  I  hold  that  the  closing  years  of  life  should 
all  be  given  up  to  penitence  and  ascetic  devotion.  Real 
religion  is  of  another  cast,  its  services  are  man's  highest 
duties,  and  the  proper  performance  of  them  contributes 
more  to  habitual  cheerfulness  than  all  the  joys  of  earth. 
These  duties  do  not  conflict  with  any  pleasures  that  a 
rational  and  moral  being  indulges  in,  and  least  of  all 
with  the  cultivation  of  the  affections.  You  see,  my 
dear  friend,  I  have  persuaded  myself  that  I  am  not  sin- 
ning in  still  clinging  to  earth,  even  when  age  and  in- 
firmities are  constantly  reminding  me  that  I  should  be 
turning  my  thought  upwards  to  Heaven.  Is  there  no 
devotion  but  in  a  monk's  cell  ? 

New  York,  May  23,  1868.*.  .  .  .  The  excursion  which 
I  had  planned  for  the  West  is  given  up.  I  found  I  had 
not  strength  to  make  it.  My  friends  in  Philadelphia 
furnished  me  with  letters  to  various  cities  in  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, and  the  Western  States  generally,  but  recom- 
mended me  to  wait  until  June  before  undertaking  the 

journey So  I  give  up  roving  for  the  present,  and 

shall  return  to  Cambridge,  in  the  course  of  next  week, 
by  the  way  of  Northampton,  if  the  skies  are  smiling, 
and  if  not,  by  the  direct  route 

*  To  Rev.  D.  G.  Haskins,  Cambridge. 


Age  8i.]  VARIOUS    VISITS.  323 

Barrytown,  August  5,  1868.*  ....  A  few  days  after 
my  visit  to  you  at  Brookline  with  Daveis,1  I  started  on 
my  summer  tramp  to  the  Hudson,  and  have  proceeded 
thus  far,  being  now  just  four  weeks  out.  My  first  visit 
was  to  the  Pells  near  West  Point,  and  as  the  family 
were  in  great  affliction,  they  saw  no  company  and  en- 
gaged in  no  amusements After  a  fortnight's  visit 

to  Pellwood,  during  which  somewhat  less  alarming  ac- 
counts were  received  from  his  son  in  Europe,  I  moved 
on  up  the  river,  to  Mr.  Delano's,  between   Rhinebeck 

and   Redhook Yesterday   I  transferred    myself 

and  my  traps  to  Mrs.  Astor's.  The  two  places  are 
adjacent  and  connected  by  a  private  road  of  half  a  mile 
through  the  fields  and  woods,  forming  a  very  pleasant 

walk  or  drive I  have  three  more  visits  to  make, 

before  I  get  through  my  perambulations  on  the  Hudson, 
and  by  that  time  it  will  be  September,  and  I  shall  be 
ready  to  return  to  Cambridge 

Cambridge,  September  8,  1868.  t  ....  After  four 
weeks  spent  in  this  way,2  I  felt  disposed  to  make  a 
change,  and  try  a  week  or  two  of  ruder  country  life, 
and  plunged  right  into  the  wilderness,  about  twenty-five 
miles  west  of  Albany,  at  Duanesburg,  where  there  are 
some  thousands  of  trees  to  one  house,  working  farmers 
all,  except  Dr.  Lowell,  the  rector  of  the  church,  to  whom 
I  made  my  visit.3     I   was    glad  of   an    opportunity  of 

*  To  G.  Ticknor,  Brookline.  t  To  W.  C.  Burns,  Newport. 

1  Dr.  J.  T.  Gilman  Daveis,  son  of  his        2  In  the  visits  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
early  friend  and  once  a  pupil  at  Round     vious  letter. 
Hill.  3  Rev.  Robert  T.  S.  Lowell,  a  Round 


324  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  ["868. 

spending  a  little  time  among  unsophisticated  folks, 
where  the  women  did  not  cry  for  the  latest  Paris  fash- 
ions, nor  the  young  men  place  their  chief  happiness  in 
a  new  necktie. 

I  chanced  to  arrive  at  Duanesburg  in  the  evening, 
three  hours  out  of  time,  owing  to  an  accident  on  the 
road.  Dr.  Lowell  had  been  for  me  in  his  carriage  when 
the  train  was  due,  and  after  waiting  a  long  time  had 
gone  back.  His  house  was  two  miles  from  the  station, 
the  latter  in  the  midst  of  a  swamp,  and  a  mile  at  least 
from  the  nearest  house  of  any  kind.  When  the  train 
moved  off,  I  found  myself  at  this  solitary  station  in  a 
pretty  fix,  as  we  say.  The  station  master  said  he  must 
shut  up  for  the  night,  and  what  to  do  I  knew  not. 

Whilst  I  was  pondering  on  the  perplexity,  two  men, 
who  had  come  in  the  train,  and  had  heard  me  inquiring 
about  the  way  to  Dr.  Lowell's,  said  they  were  going  in 
that  direction,  and  would  be  glad  of  my  company,  and 
one,  seeing  that  I  had  a  travelling  bag  in  my  hand,  in- 
sisted on  carrying  it  for  me,  and  so  kindly  I  could  not 
decline  the  offer.  We  trudged  on  through  pastures  and 
across  ditches,  by  a  footpath  beset  with  briars  and  bram- 
bles, for  nearly  a  mile,  and  then  came  out  upon  the  pub- 
lic road,  and  soon  met  Dr.  Lowell  in  his  carriage,  who 
had  heard  the  railroad  whistle,  and  at  once  started  off 
for  me.     My  two  stranger  friends   proved  to  be  Cam- 

Hill  pupil,  author  of  The  New  Priest  in  whom  the  boy  brought  his  lessons  with 
Conception  Bay,  and  of  a  volume  of  much  reverence  and  love  and  without 
Poems,  which  he  dedicated  to  Mr.  Cogs-  fear,  the  man  offers  this  book  as  fear- 
well  in  the  following  graceful  words  :  Iessly,  and  with  no  less  love  and  rever- 
"  To  Joseph  Green  Cogswell,  LL  D.,  ence." 
the  first  head  of  Round   Hill  School,  to 


Age  82.|  KINDNESSES  RECEIVED.  325 

eronian  preachers.     This  was  country  Christian  kind- 
ness.1 .... 

Cambridge,  December  22,  1868*  Dear  Mrs.  Astor, — 
When  I  inquired  of  Planchette  last  week  if  I  should 
have  any  Christmas  presents  this  year,  her  answer  was, 
"  Why,  yes,  your  long  tried  and  ever  faithful  friend,  Mrs. 
William  Astor,  of  the  Fifth  Avenue,  will  never  forget 
you ! "  Now  who  will  say  that  Planchette  is  not  a  know- 
ing one.  Dear  Mrs.  Astor,  your  untiring  kindness  to 
me  touches  my  heart  very  deeply,  and  the  only  return 
I  can  make  is  in  expressions  of  gratitude.  Please  ac- 
cept them  as  evidences  of  what  I  would  do  if  I  had  the 
opportunity 

New  York,  January  24,  1869.!  ....  I  came  through 
from  Cambridge  to  New  York  last  Friday,  without 
making  any  stop  on  the  road,  and  was  less  fatigued  than 
I  have  sometimes  been  after  a  much  shorter  journey. 
....  You   may  remember  that  I  spent  several  weeks 

last  summer  at  Mr.  Pell's  place  near  West  Point 

Mrs.  Pell  wrote   to   me   in    December  begging  me  to 
make  them  a  visit  and  help  her  to  cheer  up  her  hus- 

*  To  Mrs.  W.  Astor,  Jr.,  New  York.  t  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  San  Rafael,  Cal. 

1  After   this,    he   says:    "I   have   re-  to   learn   that   I   walked   over   from  the 

mained  quietly  in   Cambridge   except  a  Plain  to  Ticknor's,  last  Saturday  about 

little  offset  to   Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  one  o'clock,  when  the  thermometer  was 

to  see  a  young  friend  at  school  there,  and  above  eighty,  and  the  distance  good  three 

another  to  Jamaica  Plain  in  pursuit  of  miles."     This  was  actually  done,  but  he 

Motley,  and  thence  to  Brookline  to  dine  arrived  quite  exhausted,  though  readily 

with  the  Ticknors.     It  will   prove  to  you  revived  by  food  and  wine, 
that  I  have  not  lost  all  locomotive  power 


326  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1869. 

band,  who  is  not  only  cast  down  by  affliction  but  se- 
riously ill.  This  and  my  anxiety  to  hear  about  you, 
brought  me  on,  so  soon  as  I  felt  able  to  undertake  the 
journey 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

1869-1870. —  Closing   Years. — Tranquillity  of  Mind.  —  Continued 
Activity,  Physical  and  Mental.  —  Power  of  Labor. 

CAMBRIDGE,  March  24,  1869* I  explained  to 

^-^  you  the  great  and  insurmountable  obstacles  to  my 
getting  over  to  California.  I  have  never  allowed  myself, 
till  this  winter,  to  believe  that  the  time  had  past  when  it 
was  possible  for  me  to  make  the  journey.  I  have  kept 
my  necessary  stock  of  gold,  and  everything  in  readiness, 
for  my  departure  at  a  moment's  warning,  but  recent  ex- 
perience has  convinced  me  that  the  bright  vision  which 
I  have  so  fondly  cherished  can  never  be  realized.1  .... 

Brookline,  July  31,  1869.!  ....  I  remember  when 
I  was  a  boy  how  gladly  I  looked  forward  to  the  long 
summers,  beginning  with  birds'-nesting  in  May  and 
ending  with  nutting  in  October,  and  now  it  seems  to  me 
that  both  these  months  belong  to  winter.  All  has 
changed,  or  rather  I  have  changed,  which  makes  me 
fancy  that  all  other  things  have  changed,  even  the  sea- 
sons. After  trying  a  whole  week  of  entire  solitude  in 
Cambridge  I  came  over  here  to  spend  a  few  days  in  the 

*  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  San  Rafael,  Cal.  t  To  Rev.  D.  G.  Haskins. 

1  He  made  a  visit  near  West  Point  in  May,  and  went  to  Newport,  in  July. 


328  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1869. 

pleasant  society  of  the  Ticknors,  and  their  neighbors, 
which  will  prepare  me  for  another  week  of  solitude,  and 
then  I  go  to  Dr.  Lowell's  i  for  another  social  one,  so 
you  see  how  I  contrive  to  give  swifter  wings  to  Time.2 

Cambridge,  October  18,  '69*  ....  I  have  been  blessed 
in  life  far  beyond  the  ordinary  lot,  not  with  riches  and 
honors,  but  with  the  affections  of  precious  friends,  and 
frequent  intercourse  with  the  most  intellectual,  the  most 
refined  and  the  most  virtuous  of  my  day,  both  at  home 
and  abroad.  In  another  respect  I  have  been  singularly 
blessed.  God  has  never  given  me  over  to  unbelief.  At 
no  period  of  my  life  has  a  doubt  ever  arisen  in  my  mind 
in  regard  to  the  great  spiritual  truths.  God  the  Creator, 
Christ  the  Redeemer,  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Sanctifier,  are 
realities  with  me,  as  much  as  the  earth  upon  which  I 
tread.  I  would  not  give  up  this  belief  for  the  gift  of  the 
greatest  intellect,  the  highest  rank,  or  the  most  un- 
bounded wealth  ever  attained  by  mortal  man.  And  how 
any  thinking  being  can  renounce  his  immortal  nature 
and  ally  himself  to  perishable  matter,  —  the  clods  of  the 
valley  in  which  he  is  laid,  —  I  cannot  understand.  Ex- 
cuse my  homilies.  These  thoughts,  as  is  natural  when 
one  is  so  near  the.  grave  as  I  am,  are  constantly  in  my 
mind,  and  I  do  not  think  you  would  wish  me  to  sup- 
press them  in  writing  to  you 

*  To  Mrs.  Lewis  Livingston. 

1  Dr.  Robert  Lowell,  formerly  at  Du-  price  the  catalogue  of  her  late  husband's 
anesburg,  now  at  Southborough,  Mass.  valuable  library,  which  occupied  him  a 

2  A  few  weeks  after  this  he  complied  fortnight,  and  he  says  :  "  Cost  me  an 
with  the  request  of  Mrs.  Cora  Living-  average  of  thirteen  hours  of  labor  daily 
ston  Barton,  that  he  would  examine  and  for  the  whole  time." 


Age83.]  RETZCH'S  PICTURE   OF  "DEATH."  329 

Cambridge,  January  1,  [1870.]*  Dear  Johnny,  —  I  wish 
you  a  merry  Christmas  and  a  happy  New  Year,  and  I 
wish  you  were  nearer  to  me  that  I  might  send  you  some 
nice  gifts  to  amuse  you  during  the  holidays.  But  you 
are  a  great  way  off,  and  if  I  were  to  send  the  prettiest 
things  I  could  find,  they  would  get  broken  on  their  way, 
so  I  can  only  send  you  my  love,  which  will  be  sure  to  go 
straight  in  this  little  letter.  It  is  very  cold  here  and  a 
plenty  of  snow,  and  not  such  beautiful  weather  as  you 
have  in  San  Rafael.  I  can't  play  out  doors  at  all  now, 
the  snow-drifts  are  so  high  ;  there  's  no  coasting,  and  the 
ponds  are  so  covered  with  it  there's  no  skating.  If  I 
could  only  be  with  you  in  San  Rafael,  we  could  ride  and 
hunt  and  sail,  and  you  should  carry  my  gun,  and  pick 
up  all  the  birds,  and  deer,  and  bears,  when  I  shot  them. 
Ah !  if  I  could  only  be  there,  what  good  fun  we  would 
have  together.  Your  cousin  Julia  Howe  was  married  to- 
day, and  I  was  at  the  wedding.  We  had  such  a  nice 
time,  plenty  of  ice  cream  and  other  good  things.  Then 
there  were  lots  of  pretty  ladies,  all  dressed  out  most 
beautifully.     I  am  sure  you  would  have  enjoyed  it  quite 

as  much  as  hunting  for  quails  and  partridges Give 

my  love  to  Cora  and  Joe,  and  don't  forget  your  old  play- 
fellow, please.  Your  loving  friend, 

Jos.  G.  Cogswell. 

Cambridge,  March  9,  1870^  ....  Several  years  since 
I  was  in  Morris  Retzch's  painting  room  near  Dresden, 
when  I  saw  his  celebrated  picture  of  Death,  so  presented 
that  the  nearer  one  approached  it  the   more  its  terrors 

*  To  John  Ward  Mailliard,  San  Rafael,  Cal.  t  To  Mrs.  F.  H.  Delano,  N.  Y. 

42 


33°  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1870. 

vanished  ;  and  when  one  was  close  to  it,  its  aspect  be- 
came inviting  and  lovely.  It  embodied  a  fine  concep- 
tion, which  had  more  of  the  ideal  than  the  real  in  it, 
and  which  must  have  been  formed  when  he  was  still 
young,  and  did  not  know  the  impressions  which  the  con- 
templation of  the  subject  would  make  upon  one  in  old 
age,  when  it  is  certain  that  — 

"  This  pleasing  anxious  being  must  be  resigned, 
And  leave  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day." 

It  is  not  that  a  doubt  rests  on  my  mind  with  regard  to  a 
future  life.  I  believe  in  its  reality  as  fully  as  I  believe 
in  the  present.  But  it  is  the  thought  of  quitting  so 
many  loved  friends  and  pleasant  scenes.  But  for  the 
assurance  of  "  brighter  worlds  beyond  the  sky,"  the 
thought  of  death  would  make  the  whole  of  life  one  con- 
tinuous misery.  God  has  been  merciful  to  man  in  this 
respect  as  in  every  other 

Cambridge,  Tuesday  Morning,  \jfune,  1870.*]  .... 
Your  remark  about  my  remembering  the  little  poem, 
which  I  transcribed  for  you  from  memory,  led  me  to  re- 
flect upon  the  wonderful  difference  in  the  activity,  or  rath- 
er tenacity  of  that  faculty,  as  to  what  is  recorded  there  in 
youth  or  in  old  age.  I  had  never  seen  those  verses  in 
print  or  manuscript  since  I  was  eight  years  old,  when 
my  pastor,  old  Dr.  Dana,  gave  them  to  me  for  a  piece  to 
speak,  and  they  never  came  into  my  mind  again  until 
very  recently.  I  may  mention  another  circumstance  in 
proof  of  the  retention  of  early  impressions.  When  I 
was  in  Ipswich  recently,  where  I  had  not  spent  an  hour 

*  To  Mrs.  Geo.  Ticknor,  Boston. 


Age  83.]  SOLITUDE.  33 1 

before  for  sixty  years,1  I  walked  about  the  town  to  see 
what  improvements  had  been  made  in  it  during  the 
interim,  and  I  found  I  could  remember  every  house  that 
was  standing  there  when  I  was  a  school-boy,  and  not  the 
house  only,  but  the  name  of  the  family  that  occupied  it 
also.  Now  it  puzzles  me,  often,  to  recall  the  name  of  the 
person  to  whom  I  have  been  talking  within  an  hour. 
How  can  this  be  accounted  for  philosophically  ?  .  .  .  . 

Cambridge,  Sunday  Evening,  Jtdy  31,  1870*  Dear 
Mrs.  Delano,  —  How  I  wish  I  could  write  as  beautiful 
an  answer  to  yours  of  the  6th  inst.  as  the  letter  itself  was, 
not  for  my  own  glory,  but  for  your  gratification.  But 
that  I  cannot  do,  and  I  must  beg  you  to  accept  the  will 
for  the  deed.  I  have  passed  this  whole  month  of  July  in 
complete  solitude.  My  niece  and  all  her  family  went  to 
the  sea-shore  at  the  beginning  of  it,  leaving  the  fifteen 
rooms  of  the  house,  besides  cellar  and  garret,  to  the  oc- 
cupancy of  myself  and  servant,  and  such  incorporeals  as 
chose  to  take  possession.  As  the  July  heats  have  driven 
most  of  the  gentry  from  Cambridge  and  the  vicinity,  I 
have  had  very  few  visitors,  of  these,  two  were  Califor- 
nians,  Mr.  Mailliard  and  another  old  acquaintance.  Many 
days  the  sun  has  risen  and  the  midnight  hour  arrived 
without  my  seeing  a  human  face,  except  that  of  my  ser- 
vant. To  relieve  the  solitude  I  domesticated  a  little 
mouse,  and  got  him  to  be  so  tame  he  would  hop  up  on 

*  To  Mrs.  F.  H.  Delano. 

1  He  went  to  Ipswich  at  this  time,  to  says  :  "  It  was  the  only  thing  on  my  mind 
look  at  the  burial  place  of  his  family,  and  in  relation  to  earthly  concerns  that  was 
select  a  spot  for  his  own  final  rest.     He     troubling  me." 


2,2,2  JOSEPH    GREEN  COGSWELL.  11870. 

the  table  at  breakfast  time  and  look  up  so  cunningly  for 
his  share,  I  counted  upon  him  at  that  hour  as  much  as 
if  he  had  been  a  human.  But  I  offended  him  one  morn- 
ing, by  not  putting  butter  enough  upon  his  bread,  so  he 
would  not  come  any  more  to  take  breakfast  with  me. 
Now  I  leave  a  good  portion  of  bread,  well  buttered,  for 
him,  and  bits  of  cheese  besides,  which  disappear  after  I 
leave  the  breakfast  room.  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  the  little  creature  is  sensible  that  he  is  treated 
kindly,  and  grateful  for  it  too,  for  now  he  never  touches 
anything  eatable  except  what  is  set  aside  for  him,  nor 
permits  any  other  mouse  to  do  it,  and  before  they  were 
very  troublesome.  Would  it  be  possible  to  apply  the 
law  of  kindness  as  efficiently  to  human  offenders  ? .  Com- 
bined with  the  inculcation  of  the  religious  principle  of 
Christianity,  I  think  it  would.  I  am  no  believer  in  the 
omnipotent  power  of  mere  human  effort,  but  I  do  believe 
that  God  often  uses  a  human  agent  to  make -his  omnipo- 
tent power  felt  in  the  human  heart. 

You  will  naturally  conclude  that  I  must  pass  a  great 
many  wearisome  hours,  to  have  no  one  to  speak  to,  no 
amusements,  unable  to  walk  or  drive  out,  and  no  variety 
of  any  kind,  in  fact  to  be,  as  it  were,  afloat  at  sea,  in  a 
deserted  ship,  and  so  I  certainly  should  have,  if  I  did  not 
feel  that  I  am  much  more  favored  than  afflicted,  that  my 
afflictions  are  inseparable  from  living  too  long,  and  that, 
thus  far,  they  have  not  made  me  a  burden  to  any  one  but 
myself,  that  I  can  see  with  my  own  eyes,  hear  with  my 
own  ears,  walk  with  my  own  feet,  feed  myself  with  my  own 
hands,  and  above  all  exercise  my  own  mind ;  in  a  word 
that  I  am  not  yet  a  mere  cumberer  of  the  ground.     All 


Age  83.]  READING.  333 

these  I  regard  as  blessings  with  which  I  am  favored  by 
God,  and  for  which  I  feel  too  grateful  to  repine  at  inev- 
itable privations.  Sometimes  I  get  tired  of  reading,  and 
if  it  is  by  day  I  sit  by  the  window  and  look  out  upon 
beautiful  nature  or  the  busy  world,  according  to  the  side 
of  the  house  where  my  seat  may  be,  and  if  by  night  I 
turn  my  eyes  to  the  glorious  heavens  and  my  thoughts 
to  God.  As  regards  reading  I  find  there  are  few  books 
of  which  I  do  not  tire,  —  and  of  these  few  the  first  of  all 
is  the  Bible.  I  have  just  finished  a  careful  perusal  of 
the  four  Gospels,  having  taken  them  up  as  if  it  were  for 
the  first  time,  and  I  had  never  formed  an  opinion  in  re- 
gard to  Him  whose  life  they  record,  and  in  so  far  as  I 
can  divest  myself  of  all  preconceived  belief.  I  closed 
the  book  convinced  by  what  I  had  been  reading,  of  the 
literal  truth  of  the  narrative  and  saying  with  the  centu- 
rion, "  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God." 

It  is  my  practice  now,  in  regard  to  many  other  ques- 
tions, —  to  review  my  opinio'n,  and  see  if  it  has  been 
formed  in  conformity  to  that  of  the  public,  or  from  my 
own  unbiased  judgment.  For  instance,  I  was  not  satis- 
fied with  the  impression  on  my  mind  about  "  Jane  Eyre  " 
and  its  author  Charlotte  Bronte,  so  I  got  Mrs.  Gaskell's 
life  of  her,  and  read  it  carefully,  which  satisfied  me  that 
whatever  she  wrote  must  be  different  from  anything  pro- 
ceeding from  minds  formed  under  common  circum- 
stances. And  really  I  do  not  see  how  "  Jane  Eyre  " 
could  be  understood  by  any  one,  who  did  not  know  the 
peculiar  character  of  its  author,  for  it  seems  to  me  a  sort 
of  autobiography  of  the  workings  of  her  mind.  It  does 
not  evince  a  mind  of  a  high  order,  but  a  very  peculiar  one, 


334  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1870. 

and  it  has  as  little  of  the  probable  in  it  as  her  mind  had 
of  correct  training.  The  conflagration  and  all  the  in- 
cidents connected  with  the  burning  of  Rochester's  resi- 
dence, have  been  reproduced  in  some  more  recent  story, 
but  I  cannot  tell  what  one. 

I  have  wanted  so  much  to  see  you  all,  I  have  sometimes 
thought  I  would  take  the  cars  to  Hudson,  and  get  a  car- 
riage there  to  take  me  down  as  far  as  Rhinebeck,  mak- 
ing calls  upon  my  way  at  Rokeby,  at  your  place  and 
William's,  and  at  Mrs.  Livingston's,  and  then  back  via 
New  York,  but  I  have  never  found  myself  quite  up  to 

the  effort Please  give  my  love  to  Mr.  D.  and  to 

your   father J  and   mother,   and   Henry.     I   would  have 
given  a  large  part  of  my  fortune  to  have  been  able  to 
spend  an  hour  or  two  at  Rokeby,  and  at  your  house. 
Yours  truly  and  affectionately, 

Jos.  G.  Cogswell. 

Cambridge,  Sunday  Evening,  August  14,  [1870.]*  .... 
The  interest  I  take  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  helps 
much  to  give  wings  to  my  solitary  hours.  I  get  the  papers 
every  morning  and  evening,  and  fill  up  nearly  two  hours 
in  reading  each  one,  and  take  great  comfort  in  seeing 
that  Napoleon  is  everywhere  defeated.  But  it  is  heart- 
rending to  see  at  what  a  terrible  sacrifice  of  human  life 
the  crushing  out  of  this  horrible  despot  is  effected.  Hu- 
manity pours  out  its  curses  upon  such  murderers  and 
monsters  as  Nero,  Tiberius,  Attila,  and  many  others  of 
the  same  class,  but  none  of  them  are  so  deserving  of  ex- 

*  To  Rev.  O.  G.  Haskins. 
1  Mr.  William  B.  Astor. 


Age  84.]  INVITATIONS  REFUSED.  335 

ecration  as  this  man,  who  is  offering  up  millions  to 
secure  his  own  personal  advancement.  Napoleon  I.  in 
all  his  wars  had  at  least  a  plausible  pretext,  this  fellow 
has  not  the  slightest. 

I  think  I  might  count  up  ten,  if  not  a  dozen  urgent 
invitations  to  make  visits  among  friends  this  summer, 
and  I  take  credit  to  myself  for  having  refused  them  all, 
not  because  I  did  not  want  to  accept,  but  because  I  knew 
I  could  not  contribute  to  the  pleasure  of  the  inviters, 
and  was  not  selfish  enough  to  throw  myself  as  a  mere 

burden  upon  them My  health    is  as  good,  and 

probably  better  than  it  would  have  been,  had  I  been  un- 
der constant  excitement  and  luxurious  living.  Many 
people  wonder,  no  doubt,  that  I  am  still  alive,  but  they 
should  remember  that  some  persons  get  so  much  in  the 
habit  of  living  on,  they  find  it  difficult  to  get  out  of  it. 

Cambridge,  December  19,  1870*  Dear  Mrs.  Astor, — 
Last  Saturday  evening  I  heard  a  loud  knocking  at  the 
outer  door  near  my  bedroom,  and  thinking  it  might  be 
some  poor  wretch  shivering  with  cold,  I  hastened  to  the 
door  without  waiting  for  a  light,  and  there  I  saw  a  proces- 
sion of  three  men, each  with  a  big  box  on  his  head.  Sup- 
posing they  had  made  a  mistake,  I  told  them  to  go  away. 
Then  the  one  at  the  head  spoke  up,  and  said,  "  No  we 
have  not  mistaken  the  house,  this  is  Mr.  Cogswell's  and 
these  cases  are  marked  with  his  name."  Still  I  would 
not  believe  it,  until  a  light  was  brought,  and  I  saw  with 
my  own  eyes  that  it  was  so,  but  how  it  could  be  I  did 
not  understand,  until  I  looked  at  your  note  again,  and 

*  To  Mrs.  W.  Astor,  Jr.,  New  York. 


336  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [,870. 

found  the  word  "  each  "  which  I  could  not  make  out 
when  I  first  read  it.  Now  if  I  did  not  consider  you  as 
one,  and  most  emphatically  so,  I  would  send  a  separate 
acknowledgment  to  your  husband,  he  will  please  under- 
stand that  what  I  say  to  you  I  say  to  him  also.  I 
broached  a  bottle  of  the  champagne  yesterday  and  found 
it  excellent.     I  found  too  that  it  was  the  very  thing  I 

needed  to  enliven  and  strengthen  me If  I  knew 

any  better  way  of  expressing  my  gratitude  to  you  both 
for  your  great  kindness,  than  by  letting  you,  know  how 
much  of  improved  health  I  owe  to  your  repeated  gener- 
ous efforts  to  effect  the  improvement,  I  would  avail  myself 
of  it,  for  I  am  really  grateful  beyond  what  I  have  power 
to  express. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

1871. — The  Last  Year.  —  Visits  New  York  and  works  for  the  Astor 
Library.  —  Newport  and  Nahant.  ■ —  Conclusion.  —  Tributes  and  Me- 
morials.— -Meeting  of  Round  Hill  Pupils.  —  Monument  placed 
by  them  over  the  Grave  at  Ipswich,  and  Bust  given  by  them  to  Har- 
vard College. 

/^^AMBRIDGE,  Sunday  Evening,  January  29,  1871.* 
^-/  Dear  Mrs.  Astor,  —  Your  kind  letter  of  the  26th 
came  just  at  the  time  when  I  most  needed  the  consolation 
of  its  friendly  expressions.  I  found  it  on  my  table  yester- 
day afternoon,  when  I  returned  from  the  funeral  of  Mr. 
Ticknor,  the  last  of  my  early  friends,  with  whom  I  had 
been  closely  associated  for  almost  seventy  years.  The 
funeral  was  strictly  private,  but  the  family  very  kindly 
considered  me  as  one  of  them,  and  gave  me  a  place 
among  the  mourners,  as  in  truth  I  was.  The  event  was 
a  distressing  one  to  me,  and  nothing  could  have  given 
me  more  comfort  than  the  proof  you  sent  me  of  your 
affectionate  regards  and  continued  interest.  I  feel  that  I 
am  not  alone  in  the  world  when  I  have  so  kind  a  friend  left 
to  me  as  yourself.  I  am  the  sole  survivor  of  my  family ; 
my  parents,  a  brother  and  five  sisters,  were  taken  from 
me  many  years  since,  and  my  early  associates  are  now  all 
gone.     Still  God  has  been  very  merciful  to  me  and  given 

*  To  Mrs.  W.  Astor,  Jr.,  New  York. 
43 


338  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1871. 

me  of  the  younger  generations  many  very  dear  and  pre- 
cious friends. 

Cambridge,  April  24,  1871.*  .  .  .  .  Soon  after  my  last 
to  you  Mr.  Schroeder  sent  in  his  resignation  to  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Astor  Library  and  I  was  requested  to  look 
up  a  successor  for  them.  This  has  brought  so  wide  a  cor- 
respondence upon  me,  that  I  have  had  to  write  thirty  let- 
ters, either  in  answer  to  applicants  for  office,  or  to  inquire 
of  others  whom  1  considered  eligible  for  it,  if  they  would 

accept  provided  I  could  obtain  it  for  them This 

commission  has  kept  me  active  for  some  time  past,  as  I 
have  had  not  only  to  communicate  by  letter  with  the  dif- 
ferent individuals  named  as  candidates,  but  also,  in  many 
cases  to  see  them  in  person,  so  that  I  have  been  driving 
about,  and  improved  in  health  by  exercising  more  than 
usual 

Cambridge,  June  3,  1871*  ....  Although  my  visit 
to  New  York  is  now  got  to  be  an  old  story,  as  I  have 
not  yet  told  it  to  you  I  will  now  give  you  some  extracts 
from  it.  According  to  previous  arrangements  I  started 
from  Cambridge  on  the  morning  of  May  1st,  at  10 
o'clock,  and  took  the  shore  line  from  Boston  at  1 1,  which 
transported  me  safely  to  New  York  before  dark.  In 
proof  that  I  was  not  completely  used  up  by  the  journey, 
I  may  mention  that  I  left  the  train  at  44th  Street,  4th 
Avenue,  and  walked  down  to  W.  Astor  Jr.'s  on  the  5th, 
corner  of  34th  Street.  This  I  did  so  that  his  carriage 
should  not  be  sent  for  me  to  the  station But  I 

*  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  San  Rafael. 


Age  84.]  VISIT  TO  NEW    YORK.  339 

was  foiled  in  my  attempt  to  save  trouble.  On  reaching 
his  house  I  found  the  carriage  had  already  gone  for  me. 

I  spent  a  week  with  them,  surrounded  with  luxuries, 
and  what  is  better,  with  real  comforts.  Nothing  could 
be  thought  of  which  Mrs.  Astor  did  not  provide  for  me. 
In  a  word,  to  give  you  an  idea  of  how  I  was  treated  dur- 
ing my  visit  to  her,  just  think  how  I  should  be  treated 

were  I  your  guest,  and  you  have   it When   my 

week  was  up  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  B.  Astor  put  in  an  urgent 
claim  for  a  visit  from  me,  which  I  could  not  refuse  to  make. 
There,  too,  everything  was  done  in  the  way  of  attention 
and  kindness,  and  it  would  be  ungrateful  in  me  not  to  be 
satisfied,  but  there  were  no  young  folks  to  enliven  the 
house,  as  at  the  son's 

The  constant  excitement  proved  too  much  for  me,  and 
the  effort  to  appear  smart  exhausted  me.  It  was  like 
high  steam  pressure  upon  a  weak  boiler,  a  little  more 
than  the  machinery  would  bear.  A  few  days  more  of  it 
would  have  stopt  its  working  altogether.  I  went  to  the 
Theatre,  I  drove  twice  all  round  the  Central  Park,  twice 
I  walked  from  the  Astor  Library  to  Wall  Street,  and 
about  as  much  daily  in  other  directions.  Then  the  mat- 
ter of  looking  up  a  successor  to  Mr.  Schroeder  x  worried 
me  a  good  deal,  so  that,  altogether,  at  the  end  of  the 
second  week  I  was  right  glad  to  get  on  board  of  a  Sound 

1  During  this  visit  of  Mr.  Cogswell  to  great  pleasure  which  the  Trustees  have 

New  York,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  felt   in   again  meeting  him,  and  to  offer 

the  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library,  at  a  him  their  sincerest  thanks  for  the  strong 

meeting  on  the   10th  of  May,  when  Mr.  interest  he  still  feels  in  the  Library,  and 

Cogswell  was  present,  of  which  the  fol-  the  valuable  suggestions  he  has  made  in 

lowing  is  a  copy :  —  aid  of  the  Trustees  while  engaged  in  the 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be   re-  choice  of  a  successor  to  Mr.  Schroeder." 

quested  to  express  to  Dr.  Cogswell  the  "The  Treasurer  was  directed,"  etc. 


340  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1871. 

steamboat  for  the  rest  it  afforded  me.  Return  to  my 
quiet  life  has  brought  me  up  again,  and  I  feel  that  seeing 
old  friends,  and  change  from  the  monotony  of  my  uniform 
solitude  has,  on  the  whole,  been  of  service  to  me 

Newport,  July  16,  1871.*  .  .  .  .  Last  year  I  said,  I'll 
not  go  to  Newport  until  Mrs.  Burns  and  William  come 
home,  but  at  that  time   I  did  not  know,  or  imagine  that 

you  intended  to  expatriate  yourselves  so  long My 

friend  George  Wales  gave  me  a  very  kind  invitation  to 
make  him  a  visit,  which  I  accepted  the  more  readily, 
knowing  that  his  new  house  was  in  a  very  quiet  situation 

on  the  cliffs The  ocean  rolls  its  broad  waves  at 

the  foot  of  the  lawn,  and  the  land  view  on  every  side  is 
beautiful.  The  piazzas  are  so  arranged  that  we  can  sit  out 
upon  them  without  being  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  breathe 
as  fresh  and  pure  an  air  as  ever  blows  over  land  or  water. 
Indoors  nothing  is  wanting  to  one's  comfort  or  enjoy- 
ment, the  host  and  hostess  are  unwearied  in  their  atten- 
tions, and  the  most  exigeant  person  could  find  nothing 
to  complain  of,  except  being  made  too  much  of.  I  need 
not  add  that  under  these  circumstances  I  am  thriving 
greatly  and  gaining  flesh,  I  judge,  at  the  rate  of  at  least  a 
pound  a  day 

Nahant,  July  24,  1871.1  ....  After  my  return  from 
New  York,  I  kept  quiet  at  Cambridge  until  the  12th  of 
July,  when  I  was  enticed  to  Newport  by  the  urgent 
solicitations  of  one  of  my  old  Round  Hill  boys,  who  had 
built  a  nice  house  on  the  cliffs  there,  and  wanted  to  show 

*  To  W.  C.  Burns.  t  To  Mrs.  Lewis  Livingston,  Rhinebeck. 


AgeS4.]  trials  of  old  age.  341 

it  to  me.  The  sea  view  delighted  me  and  the  sea  air 
invigorated  me  for  a  time,  but  the  fogs  came,  and  with 
them  neuralgia  and  low  spirits,  so  that  I  was  soon  driven 
back  to  Cambridge.  But  as  I  had  made  a  positive  en- 
gagement to  make  Longfellow  a  visit  here,  on  the  22d, 
I  had  to  try  the  sea  coast  again I  hear  conversa- 
tion so  imperfectly,  and  so  often  misunderstand  what 
is  said  to  me,  I  am  mortified  at  exhibiting  so  much  stu- 
pidity. I  should  not  mind  it  if  I  found  others  as  stupid 
as  myself,  but  oh,  how  distressing  it  is  to  perceive  that 
one  is  the  only  stupid  person  of  the  company 

Cambridge,  August  28,  1871.*  You  can  see,  that  old 
age  has  made   rapid  strides   upon  me,  by  my  delay  in 

answering  your  delightful  letters Well,  if  I  have 

grown  ever  so  old  in  all  other  respects,  my  affection  for 
you  has  lost  none  of  its  strength  or  freshness,  and  you 
must  put  to  the  account  of  physical  infirmities  all  fail- 
ures to  give  you  assurances  of  it.  The  harvest  is  past 
and  the  summer  almost  ended,  and  I  have  nearly  reached 
another  milestone  in  my  earthly  pilgrimage.  On  the 
27th  of  September  should  I  live  so  long,  I  shall  begin 
to  count  the  sixth  of  my  years  over  fourscore,  and  I 
have  abundant  reason  for  gratitude  to  God,  for  having 
spared  me  most  of  the  trials  which  usually  attend  upon 
these  helpless  years.  The  afflictions  with  which  I  am 
visited  are  chiefly  physical,  and  those  not  severe.  I  am 
not  sensible  of  any  failure  in  mental  faculties  or  cold- 
ness of  my  affections,  my  self-love  has  not  increased, 
nor  love  for  my  friends  diminished.     The  pleasures  of 

*  To  Mrs.  Mailliard,  San  Rafael. 


342  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  [1871. 

active  life  arc  gone,  but  those  of  a  tranquil  contempla- 
tive one  are  all  left  to  me.  I  am  often  reminded  of  the 
story  of  the  master  and  servant,  who  were  mounted  on 
the  same  horse,  the  former  in  the  saddle,  the  latter  on 
the  crupper.  At  the  end  of  a  long  day's  ride,  the 
master  invoked  blessings  upon  the  man  who  invented 
saddles,  and  the  servant  replied,  "  Blessings  on  the  man 
who  invented  horses."  My  case  is  not  unlike  this.  If 
I  am  denied  the  luxuries,  I  am  blessed  with  the  substan- 
tiate. 

Cambridge,  November  6,  1871.*  Dear  Mrs.  Living- 
ston, —  Had  you  known  how  very  ill  I  have  been,  you 
would  not  have  been  surprised  at  not  hearing  from  me  ; 
for  more  than  four  weeks  I  was  not  able  to  write  a  line, 
or  sit  up  five  minutes.  I  am  now  so  far  recovered,  I 
can  scratch  a  wee  bit  of  a  note,  and  more  than  that  I 
have  not  been  able  to  write  to  any  one.  I  have  found 
that  local  maladies,  in  addition  to  the  infirmities  of  old 
age  were  a  burden  quite  beyond  my  strength.  The 
beautiful  manuscript  selection  of  poetical  gems,  you  sent 
me,  has  comforted  me,  in  many  a  desponding  hour. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  friend,  for  divining  and  supply- 
ing what  afforded  me  so  much  comfort.  I  have  not 
written  half  so  much  as  the  foregoing  for  more  than 
two  months. 

With  my  kindest  remembrance  to  Mr.  Livingston  and 
the  young  gentlemen, 

Most  affectionately  your  ever  faithful  friend, 

Jos.  G.  Cogswell. 

*  To  Mrs.  Lewis  Livingston,  New  York. 


Age  8s.]  HIS   DEATH.  343 

When  this  note  was  written,  Mr.  Cogswell  was  already 
failing,  his  life  was  slowly  and  gently  passing  away,  with- 
out severe  suffering,  and  yet  not  without  pain,  which 
he  bore  patiently.  He  was  not  always  willing  to  pursue 
the  treatment,  or  to  take  the  remedies  that  were  recom- 
mended, and  he  continued  to  make,  from  time  to  time, 
extravagant  exertions,  seeming  occasionally  to  rally. 
After  the  last  week  in  September,  however,  he  never 
came  in  to  Boston. 

Gradually  the  flame  died  out,  but  it  was  not  rapidly 
extinguished.  Everything  was  done  that  kind  and  watch- 
ful care  could  do  :  friends  visited  him  and  ministered  to 
his  wants ;  his  unwillingness  to  have  proper  attendance 
was  overcome,  and,  beside  all  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Haskins 
and  their  children  could  do,  with  the  most  constant  de- 
votion, the  services  of  two  capable  and  faithful  men  were 
secured  for  him,  day  and  night.  After  twenty-four  hours 
of  unconsciousness  his  spirit  passed  away  in  the  after- 
noon of  a  quiet  Sunday,  November  26.  He  had  at- 
tained the  great  age  of  eighty-five  years  and  two  months, 
without  having  lost  his  powers  of  mind  and  memory. 

The  appreciation  of  Mr.  Cogswell's  character  ex- 
pressed, in  private  and  in  public,  was  such  as  does  not 
often  fall  to  the  lot  of  those  who  so  far  outlive  their  own 
generation  and  its  separate  interests.  He  had  made  for 
himself  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  younger  people,  and 
he  had  labored  so  successfully  for  the  intellectual  and 
moral  benefit  of  his  fellow  countrymen  that,  at  his  death, 
there  were  some  among  the  distinguished  writers  of  this 
late  day,  ready  to  pay  their  tribute  to  his  virtues  and 
his  work. 


344  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL.  I1871. 

Two  of  these  recorded  their  impressions  of  his  char- 
acter in  terms  so  apt  and  so  worthy  of  their  subject, 
that  to  place  them  here  is  to  give  a  fitting  conclusion 
to  this  sketch.     One  1  says  :  — ■ 

"  Mr.  Cogswell  had  a  very  active  mind,  with  quick  per- 
ceptions, and  a  physical  organization  which  found  satis- 
faction in  movement  and  change.  He  had  learned  as 
much  by  observation  as  by  study.  In  science  and  gene- 
ral literature  his  attainments  were  rather  extensive  than 
profound  ;  but  in  bibliography  his  knowledge  was  thor- 
ough, various,  and  exact.  Herein  he  had  few  equals  and 
no  superior. 

"  Having  read  and  seen  much,  having  known  many  of 
the  most  eminent  men  in  Europe  and  America,  his 
conversation  was  most  instructive  and  agreeable.  He 
combined  happily  in  his  social  moments,  the  ease  of  a 
man  familiar  with  society,  with  the  substantial  merits 
of  vigorous  sense  and  various  knowledge.  His  char- 
acter was  generous ;  his  affections  were  warm ;  his 
principles  were  firm.  He  was  valued  and  loved  by  his 
friends,  and  no  man  was  more  rich  in  friends.  There 
was  hardly  a  city  along  our  whole  Atlantic  coast  in 
which  he  could  not  have  found  warm  welcome  and 
eager  hospitality.  His  old  pupils  felt  for  him  a  rever- 
ence and  affection  which  grew  deeper  and  tenderer  as 
they  themselves  passed  into  the  lengthening  shadows 
of  life 

'.'  His  life  was  long,  active,  useful,  and  happy.  The 
kind  Providence  which  gave  him  length  of  days,  spared 
him  the  weariness  and  burden  of  age.     Except  a  slight 

1  George  S.  Hillard. 


TRIBUTES  OF  AFFECTION;  345 

deafness  he  suffered  little  from  infirmity  or  decay.     Nor 
had  he  the   trial  of  that  torpor  and  apathy  which  seals, 
as  with  a  finger  of  ice,  the  genial   currents  of  thought 
and  feeling.     His  eye  was  not  dim,  and  his  natural  force 
not   much   abated.     His   affections  were  warm,  and  his 
mind  was  quick  and    apprehensive  to   the  last.      Till 
within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death  he  walked  freely,  with- 
out assistance,  upon  his  errands   of  friendship  or  busi- 
ness.    Having  a  sort  of  horror  of  helplessness,  he  was 
saved  the   trial  of  dependence  upon  others.     Not  long 
since   he  spoke  to  the  writer  of  this  notice  in  a  simple 
and   natural   way  of  his  approaching  end,   saying  that 
while  he  was  perfectly  ready  to  go,  he  was  also  willing 
to  stay,  for  life  had  not  ceased  to  be  sweet  to  him. 
"  'Of  no  distemper,  of  no  blast  he  died, 
But  fell  like  autumn  fruit  that  ripened  long, 
Even  wondered  at  because'  he  dropped  no  sooner. 
Fate  seemed  to  wind  him  up  for  fourscore  years. 
Yet  freshly  ran  he  on  for  winters  more, 
Till  like  a  clock  worn  out  with  eating  time 
The  wheels  of  weary  life  at  last  stood  still.'  " 

The  other,1  writing  before  these  words  could  have 
reached  him,  yet  made  his  own  expression  as  it  were 
the  complement  of  the  first. 

"  He  was  one  of  the  few  men  of  culture  in  our  busy 
land  who  possess  the  instinct  of  intellectual  hospitality. 
He  was  a  consistent  and  constant  purveyor  in  the  fields 
of  knowledge.  Devoid  of  both  literary  and  personal  am- 
bition, which  are  so  apt  to  absorb  in  selfish  isolation  the 
gifts  and  graces  of  the  mind,  he  gave  to  sympathy  what 
so  many  cultivated  men  give  to  self.     In  early  life  this 

1  Henry  T.  Tuckerman. 
44 


346  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL. 

noble  feeling  found  vent  in  educational  experiments  and 
activity;  and  later  in  bibliography.  He  had  the  happy 
faculty  of  enlisting  the  intelligent  cooperation  of  those 
around  him  in  enterprises  for  the  advancement  of  learn- 
ing and  the  pursuit  of  truth.  He  won  the  confidence  of 
the  young,  and  ministered  to  the  best  aspirations  of  the 
mature  and  the  aged.  His  love  of  letters  was  emi- 
nently disinterested ;  his  literary  tastes  were  singularly 
social.  He  had  the  zest  without  the  acquisitiveness  of 
the  collector,  the  affinities  without  the  pride  of  the 
scholar.  His  heart  was  as  warm  and  constant  as  his 
intellect  was  well  balanced  and  active.  Hence  his  influ- 
ence was  as  auspicious  as  attractive.  The  youths  he 
taught,  fifty  years  ago  at  Northampton,  cherished  his 
good-will,  and  maintained  their  personal  affection  through 
life.  He  not  only  had  the  wisdom  to  conceive,  and  the 
patience  to  collect  the  Library  with  which  his  name  is 
so  honorably  associated,  but  the  tact  and  the  persuasion 
to  induce  its  founder  to  initiate  the  noble  institution, 
and  his  son  to  enlarge  and  complete  it  into  a  grand 
monument  of  private  beneficence.  No  man  ever  more 
fully  and  faithfully  appreciated  the  worth  of  friendship. 
He  never  forgot  its  sacred  obligations ;  and  it  was  a 
great  privilege  to  those  honored  by  his  regard  to  recog- 
nize and  cultivate  it  with  unabated  zeal  and  affection.  .  .  . 
He  delighted  to  aid  the  researches  of  inquirers  in  every 
sphere,  who  sought  information  at  the  fair  temple  of 
knowledge,  over  which  he  so  benignly  presided  in  his 
later  years.  He  was  the  favored  guest  in  the  homes 
of  the  fair  and  the  gifted ;  and  the  children  of  the 
friends  of  his   youth  looked  up  to  him  with  filial  par- 


MONUMENT  AND  BUST.  347 

tiality.  A  gentle  nature,  his  culture  was  harmonized  and 
hallowed  by  his  character." 

The  voice  of  affection  and  respect  was  not  hushed 
even  with  these  tributes.1  The  memory  of  Round  Hill 
still  kept  alive  an  earnest  feeling  for  the  old  friend  who 
had  made  it,  for  so  many,  a  centre  of  bright  recollec- 
tions. Some  weeks  after  his  death  a  group  of  "  gray 
headed  men  who  had  scarce  met  since  set  face  to  face 
as  boys  in  games  at  ball  or  marbles,"  came  together  to 
give  permanent  expression  to  their  faithful  attachment. 
"  The  room  where  they  assembled  seemed  filled  with 

an  aroma  from   the  past One   touch  of  boyhood 

made  the  whole  room  kin,  and  through  every  souvenir, 
through  every  remembrance  of  former  companionship, 
breathed  as  the  master  spell,  the  memory  of  the  love, 
surviving  death,  they  bore  to  their  early  teacher." 2 

They  resolved  to  order  a  bust  of  their  old  master, 
and  to  erect  a  monument  to  him,  over  his  grave  in  the 
spot  he  had  himself  chosen  in  the  graveyard  of  his 
native  place ;  and  they  resolved  that  while  the  monu- 
ment should  be  simple  and  unpretending,  as  he  had 
always  been,  it  should  be  made  of  the  most  indestruc- 
tible material  which  could  be  procured,  in  order  that 
after  generations  might  see  there  had  been,  here,  a  rare 
instance  of  enduring  attachment  between  pupils  and 
teacher. 

Both  these  purposes  have  been  fulfilled.  The  bust, 
a  very  successful  and  pleasing  likeness,  has  been  pre- 

1  Another  tribute  will  be  found  in  Ap-        -  From  the  article  by  T.  G.  Appleton, 
pendix  F.  already  quoted  more  than  once. 


348  JOSEPH  GREEN  COGSWELL. 

seated  to  Harvard  College,  and  the  monument,  a  plain 
sarcophagus  of  Aberdeen  granite,  is  in  its  place,  bear- 
ing, in  addition  to  name  and  dates,  these  simple  words : 

Erected  by  Pupils  of  Round  Hill  School, 
In  affectionate  Remembrance. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX    A. 


Extracts  from  the  Prospectus  issued  by  Messrs.  Cogsiaell  and  Bancroft. 
Dated  Cambridge,  June  20,  1823. 

If  we  would  attempt  to  form  the  characters  as  well  as  to  cultivate 
the  minds  of  the  young,  we  must  be  able  to  control  all  their  occupa- 
tions. For  this  reason  we  intend  to  have  them  under  the  same  roof 
with  ourselves,  and  we  become  responsible  for  their  manners,  habits, 
and  morals,  no  less  than  for  their  progress  in  useful  knowledge 

In  selecting  a  place  for  our  establishment,  we  chiefly  regarded  salu- 
brity and  beauty.  The  spot,  which  we  are  to  occupy  in  Northampton, 
unites  both  of  these  in  an  eminent  degree.  Among  the  ancient  and 
modern  writers  on  education  there  is  but  one  voice  respecting  the 
grateful  and  salutary  influence,  exercised  by  the  beauties  of  scenery 
on  the  mind,  and  many  of  the  eminent  schools  in  Europe  are  hardly 
less  celebrated  for  their  site,  than  for  their  literary  excellence 

The  institution,  which  we  purpose  to  establish,  is  designed  to  furnish 
occupation  for  those  years,  which  in  France  are  spent  at  a  College,  and 
in  Germany  at  a  Gymnasium.  A  boy,  who  has  completed  his  ninth 
year,  is  old  enough  to  commence  his  regular  studies,  and  to  delay 
them  longer  would  be  to  waste  precious  time,  and  (what  is  of  still 
more  moment)  the  period  when  good  habits  are  most  easily  formed. 
For  learning  the  modern  languages  these  years  are  so  valuable,  that 
the  loss  of  them  is  irreparable,  because  during  these  a  purity  of  pro- 
nunciation (we  speak  with  particular  reference  to  the  French)  may 
readily  be  acquired,  which  in  after  life  no  efforts  can  attain 

On  the  other  side  we  decline  assuming  the  charge  of  any  one,  who  has 
already  completed  his  twelfth  year  ;  and  we  conceive  that  a  regard  for 
the  success  of  our  school  requires  of  us,  on  this  point  to  be  explicit  and 


35°  APPENDIX. 

decided The  snme  discipline  of  mind  and  the  same  course  of 

instruction  cannot  be  suited  to  boys  and  to  young  men.  Between  a 
seminary,  which  provides  for  the  discipline  and  control  of  its  pupils, 
and  one,  which,  like  the  European  universities,  has  in  view  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  sciences  and  public  instruction  in  them,  there  is  an 
essential  difference,  which  must  carefully  be  heeded  in  practice.     To 

attempt  uniting  both  would  insure  a  failure 

The  promise  which  we  give  to  parents  is,  that  we  will  be  zealous  in 
our  endeavours  to  preserve  the  health  and  improve  the  morals  and  the 
mental  powers  of  their  sons.  We  must,  on  receiving  the  charge  of 
them,  be  to  them  as  parents. 

And  hence  the  methods  of  discipline  and  government  must  be  pa- 
rental. There  is  a  difference  between  severity  and  strictness.  The 
one  may  be  gained  by  the  frequent  use  of  punishments,  w-hile  the 
other  is  best  secured  by  gentleness  and  example.  The  relation  of  the 
pupil  and  tutor  is  that  of  the  weak  to  the  strong,  of  him  who  needs  in- 
struction and  defence  to  him  who  is  able  to  impart  them.  Keeping  this 
principle  in  mind  we  shall  endeavor  to  govern  by  persuasion  and  per- 
severing kindness.  These  will  be  sufficient  for  all  who  are  neither 
perverse  nor  disinclined  to  study  ;  for  others  the  institution  is  not  de- 
signed, and  obstinate  disobedience,  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  must 

ever  be  a  reason  for  his  dismissal 

[In  the  enumeration  of  studies  which  follows,  passages  occur  on  the 
relative  value  of  the  different  departments.  Some  of  these  we  will 
quote.] 

To  read,  to  write,  and  to  speak  English  with  correctness,  and  if  pos- 
sible with  elegance,  are  the  first  and  most  necessary  objects  of  in- 
struction  An   acquaintance  with  English  literature,  must  be 

commenced  with  the  first  efforts  at  learning  to  read  and  write  the 
English  language.  The  pupils  must  be  encouraged  to  grow  familiar 
with  our  great  masters  of  prose  and  verse  ;  and,  however  much  atten- 
tion may  be  claimed  by  other  studies,  we  must  always  bear  in  mind, 
that  nothing  can  supply  the  want  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  our  own 
tongue. 

The  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics  is  the  next  in  the  order 
of  importance.  They  form  the  basis  of  learning  and  taste,  both  for 
their  antiquity  and  their  intrinsic  excellence  ;  and  while  the  history  of 


APPENDIX.  35 1 

literature  is  made  clear  and  the  connexion  between  the  culture  of  an- 
cient and  modern  times  is  explained  by  the  study  of  them,  the  mind 
is  well  exercised  and  grows  accustomed  to  fix  itself  on  foreign  and  dis- 
tant objects,  the  best  foundation  for  philological  research  and  the  sci- 
entific knowledge  of  grammar  is  laid,  and  the  acquiring  of  the  modern 
languages  facilitated  beyond  expression 

Yet  there  is  a  distinction  between  the  two  languages,  when  we  con- 
sider them  as  forming  a  part  of  a  useful  education.  No  one  science 
can  be  thoroughly  learned  without  an  acquaintance  with  the  Latin 
tongue  ;  while  there  is  no  science  for  the  study  of  which  the  Greek  is 

indispensably  requisite A  knowledge  of  the  Latin  tongue  is 

therefore  essential  to  a  practical  education,  and  no  circumstances  in 
the  situation  of  our  country  can  deprive  it  of  its  importance,  its  inter- 
est, and,  we  might  add,  its  absolute  necessity. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Greek  literature  surpasses  the  Latin  in  vari- 
ety, interest,  originality,  and  actual  merit.  As  those  of  the  Grecians 
who,  in  the  first  days  of  their  culture  excelled  in  tragedy,  epic  poetry, 
and  philosophy,  had  no  predecessors  to  imitate,  so  they  have  never 
been  equalled  in  succeeding  times  ;  and  while  among  modern  nations 
each  contends  that  its  own  literature  is  the  best,  each  yields  the  sec- 
ond place  of  honor  to  the  Grecians While  therefore  all  our 

pupils  must  learn  Latin,  we  submit  to  the  decision  of  parents,  whether 
their  children  shall  be  instructed  in  Greek.  We  shall  aim  rather  to 
assist  a  few  in  learning  it  well,  than  to  excite  a  larger  number  to  learn 
it  imperfectly 

We  regard  the  study  of  languages  as  the  proper  basis  of  education, 
both  because  it  provides  the  mind  with  the  most  salutary  employment, 
and  exercises  the  powers  of  invention  and  judgment,  no  less  than 
those  of  comparison  and  memory  ;  and  because  it  furnishes  the  keys 
of  knowledge  for  future  use. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  mathematics,  we  must  revert  to  our 
first  question,  and  ask,  how  much  of  them  is  essential  to  a  liberal  edu- 
cation ?  Provision  will  be  made  for  instructing  such  as  are  fond  of 
them  in  the  higher  and  more  arduous  branches.  But  we  shall  not 
compel  all  to  apply  themselves  to  a  stud)',  for  which  there  would  seem 
in  many  minds  a  natural  inaptitude  ;  and  which,  though  pursued  in 
youth  with  a  great  expense  of  labour,  is  almost  always  thrown  aside  on 
entering  the  world 


352  APPENDIX. 

History  and  geography  are  studies  to  be  commenced  early,  and 
never  to  be  relinquished 

As  the  fear  of  God  is  the  most  sacred  principle  of  action,  there  is 
none  which  should  be  developed  with  more  care.  Each  day  will  begin 
and  end  with  devotional  exercises.  The  Lord's  day  must  be  sacredly 
observed,  and  the  exercises  of  public  worship  constantly  attended.  .  .  • 

In  1826  Messrs.  Cogswell  and  Bancroft  published  an  "  Account  of 
the  School  for  the  Liberal  Education  of  Boys,  established  on  Round 
Hill,  Northampton,"  etc.,  the  contents  of  which  are  very  similar  to 
those  of  the  Prospectus,  and  the  following  short  extracts  will  suffice  to 
show  the  additions  made  :  — 

The  question  respecting  the  relative  advantage  of  literary  and  scien- 
tific pursuits  has  been  much  agitated.  We  favor  the  former  because 
they  exercise  intimate  and  direct  influence  on  morals  ;  but  education 
would  be  imperfect  without  the  latter.  A  very  considerable  propor- 
tion of  time  is  assigned  to  the  Mathematics.  We  consider  the  study 
of  them  in  connection  with  the  languages  as  essential  to  the  best  dis- 
cipline of  the  mind.  The  natural  sciences  are  pursued  rather  as  a  re- 
laxation, and  to  quicken  the  powers  of  observation 

The  present  generation  has  acquired  such  health  and  strength  as  it 
possesses  without  any  care  of  its  own  ;  and  we  can  hardly  form  an  idea 
of  a  whole  nation,  eagerly  providing  for  the  improvement  of  the  body, 
as  well  as  for  intellectual  culture,  decreeing  a  triumph  to  superiority  of 
force,  and  recording  in  its  annals  the  names  of  men  distinguished  for 

the  perfection  of  their  physical  organization We  are  deeply 

impressed  with  the  necessity  of  uniting  physical  with  moral  educa- 
tion ;  and  are  particularly  favored  in  executing  our  plans  of  connect- 
ing them,  by  the  assistance  of  a  pupil  and  friend  of  Jahn,  the  greatest 
modern  advocate  of  gymnastics.  We  have  proceeded  slowly  in  our 
attempts,  for  the  undertaking  was  a  new  one  ;  but  now  we  see  our- 
selves near  the  accomplishment  of  our  views And  here,  too,  we 

may  say  that  we  were  the  first  in  the  new  continent  to  connect  gym- 
nastics with  a  purely  literary  establishment 

Punishments,  which  are  to  be  used  as  seldom  as  possible,  are  not 
only  to  be  proportioned  to  the  offence,  but  also,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
be  its  natural  result If  the  same  act  is  seldom  the  same  offence 


APPENDIX.  353 

in  two  different  persons,  it  is  also  seldom  that  exactly  the  same  means 
afford  a  suitable  remedy Every  one  must  then  be  led  to  meas- 
ure his  conduct  by  the  rule  of  right.  We  are  convinced,  that  while 
this  principle  seems  the  weakest,  it  is  in  fact  the  strongest.  On  any 
other,  instances  would  occur  of  offenders  willing  to  submit  to  pun- 
ishment for  the  sake  of  offending;  but  we  never  consent  to  consider 

punishment  as  a  compensation  for  a  fault We  insist  with  each 

boy,  that  his  character  is  to  be  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  his  good  con- 
duct, and  have  found  it  perfectly  safe  to  act  on  the  principle,  that 
knowledge  is  too  good  to  be  forced  upon  those  who  are  old  enough  to 
understand  its  value 

In  1831,  when  Mr.  Cogswell  was  sole  head  of  the  school,  another 
circular  was  issued,  called  an  "  Outline  of  Round  Hill  School,"  re- 
peating the  same  principles  and  the  same  purposes  as  the  two  previ- 
ous documents. 


APPENDIX   B. 


A  list  of  the  Pupils  at  the  Round  Hill  School,  during  the  first  eight 
years  of  its  existence,  is  attached  to  the  Pamphlet  called  "  Outline  of 
the  System  of  Education  at  the  Round  Hill  School,"  etc.,  published  in 
the  summer  of  1S31.  The  number  is  two  hundred  and  ninety-three, 
and  the  list,  which  is  given  below,  after  revision,  is  arranged  according 
to  the  places  of  residence  of  the  pupils.  Only  one  out  of  the  num- 
ber had  died  during  that  time. 

From  Massachusetts. 

Thomas  C.  Amory,  Henry  W.  Bellows, 

Rufus  G.  Amory,  Edward  S.  Bellows, 

George  W.  Amory,  George  A.  Bethune, 

Thomas  G.  Appleton,  John  Binney, 

Charles  S.  Appleton,  Amos  Binney, 

Samuel  Ashburner,  George  Blake, 

Theodore  J.  Barnett,  Francis  S.  Blake, 

T.  F.  Haley  Barstow,  George  William  Bond, 

Charles  Barstow,  Francis  Boott, 

Samuel  H.  Bates,  Charles  W.  Bradbury, 
45 


354 


APPENDIX. 


William  Brewster, 
John  Bryant, 
W.  Ellery  Channing, 
Augustus  Clark, 
Gorham  Coffin, 
Thomas  Cordis, 
Edward  A.  Crowninshield, 
Benjamin  Cutting, 
Henry  V.  Degen, 
W.  Prescott  Dexter, 
Francis  L.  Dutton, 
S.  Eliot  Dwighr, 
Frederick  Dwighr, 
George  E.  Ellis, 
John  O.  Fairfield, 
Haliburton  Fales, 
John  M.  Forbes, 
George  Gardner, 
Edward  E.  E.  Gardner, 
Watson  Gore, 
William  C.  Gorham, 
Benjamin  L.  Gorham, 
William  Gray, 
John  C.  Gray, 
Francis  A.  Gray, 
George  Hammond, 
George  H.  Hastings, 
Samuel  Henshaw, 
Joseph  L.  Henshaw, 
D.  Waldo  Higginson, 
Nathaniel  Hooper, 
Frank  A.  Hooper, 
Josiah  Howe, 
U.  Tracy  Howe, 
Gardner  G.  Hubbard, 
Ebenezer  Hunt, 
Seth  J.  Knowles, 
William  B.  Lawrence, 


S.  Abbott  Lawrence, 
James  Lord, 
George  W.  Lord, 
Robert  T.  S.  Lowell, 
Arthur  W.  Lyman, 
Joseph  Lyman, 
E.  H.  R.  Lyman, 
John  H.  Manning, 
Samuel  May, 
Charles  H.  Mills, 
John  T.  Morse, 
Benjamin  E.  Morse, 
Samuel  T.  Morse, 
Thomas  Mot  lev, 
J.  Lothrop  Motley, 
George  H.  Otis, 
George  Peabody, 
Dandridge  W.  Peck, 
James  H.  Perkins, 
James  D.  Perry, 
John  P.  Putnam, 
Charles  Richmond, 
Thomas  R.  Robeson, 
William  R.  Robeson, 
Thomas  Sargent, 
Theodore  Sedgwick, 
George  C.  Shattuck, 
Samuel  P.  Shaw, 
Robert  G.  Shaw, 
Theodore  Shillaber, 
Nathaniel  B.  ShurtlefF, 
Charles  S.  Storrow, 
William  W.  Sturgis, 
John  T.  S.  Sullivan, 
Samuel  B.  Swett, 
I.  Augustus  Thorndike, 
Israel  Trask, 
Robert  Wales, 


APPENDIX. 


355 


Ceorge  W.  Wales, 
Snmuel  G.  Ward, 
William  Welch, 


Charles  H.  Wheelwright, 
Joseph  White, 
Frederick  Wright. 


From   Maitie. 
J.  T.  Gilman  Daveis,  Robert  Hallowell  Gardiner, 

F.  Tudor  Gardiner. 


George  Haven, 


Truman  French, 


From  New  Hampshire. 

Charles  H.  Ladd. 

From  Connecticut. 

George  Jepson. 


From  Rhode  Island. 

Samuel  C.  Blodget,  Henry  Rivers, 

Joseph  Church,  George  Rivers, 

Sullivan  Dorr,  John  Whipple, 

Henry  Griswold,  Newton  Whipple, 

John  M.  Hutchens,  James  Whitaker, 

William  H.  Paine,  John  Wilkinson. 


Robert  Bolton, 
James  C.  Brevoort, 
William  A.  Brevoort, 
Le  Grand  Cannon, 
Henry  Cary, 
William  Edgar, 
Herman  Edgar, 
Daniel  Edgar, 
David  Fairbanks, 
George  Gibbs, 
Samuel  Hopkins, 
John  H.  Howard, 
William  E.  Howland, 
Philip  L.  Jones, 
Philip  Kearney, 
George  Kneeland, 


From  New  York. 

Shubael  Lansing, 
Robert  L.  Livingston, 
Eugene  Livingston, 
J.  Montgomery  Livingston, 
John  T.  K.  Lothrop, 
Dominic  Lynch, 
Morris  Miller, 
John  Munro, 
Herman  Newbold, 
Thomas  H.  Newbold, 
Eugene  Post, 
George  W.  Riggs, 
Lawrason  Riggs, 
B.  Woolsey  Rogers, 
Lewis  Sagory, 
Charles  Sagory, 


356 


APPENDIX. 


Courtney  Schenck, 
Henry  D.  Sewall, 
J.  Bayard  Stevens, 
Russell  N.  Townsend, 
Alexander  Van  Rensselaer, 
Robert  Watts, 
Alexander  Watts, 


Ridley  Watts, 
William  W.  Wadsworth. 
Thomas  Walker, 
Samuel  Ward, 
Henry  Ward, 
Marion  Ward, 
David  Wood. 


From  Pennsylvania. 

Alexander  Brown,  R.  Delancey  Izard, 

Thomas  W.  Francis,  John  R.  Jones, 

Charles  Francis,  Samuel  W.  Rodman. 

Alfred  Francis, 


John  Andrews, 


Horatio  D.  Appleton, 
Charles  D.  Appleton, 
George  D.  Appleton, 
James  Bankhead, 
Rawlins  Barney, 
Sterrett  .Barr, 
Frederick  W.  Brune, 
John  C.  Brune, 
Thomas  Donaldson, 
Edward  Donaldson, 
C.  Frederick  Faulac, 
Ferdinand  A.  Faulac, 
John  Faulac, 
Henry  F.  Friese, 
Philip  J.  Friese, 
William  Gilmor, 


Bernard  Carter, 


From  Delaware. 

Henry  Andrews. 

From  Maryland. 

i  Charles  S.  Gilmor, 

Robert  G.  Harper, 
William  Hoffmann, 
J.  Latimer  Hoffmann, 
John  E.  Howard, 
Thomas  McElderry, 
John  Magruder, 
W.  Wirt  Meredith, 
Oliver  Norris, 
John  O'Donnel, 
Charles  Robinson, 
Charles  Francis  Schroeder, 
Tench  Tilghman, 
Joseph  B.  Williams, 
William  Wirt, 
William  Winchester. 

From  Virginia. 

Williams  Carter, 
George  W.  Morton. 


APPENDIX. 


357 


From  North  Carolina. 
Marsden  Campbell,  John  D.  Collins, 

John  Little. 


From  South 
William  Burgoyne, 
George  W.  Cross, 
Nicholas  Cruger, 
Lawrence  Edmonston, 
Charles  Edmonston, 
George  Edwards, 
John  L.  Faber, 
George  Gibson, 
William  Habersham, 
James  Hamilton, 
D.  Hayvvard  Hamilton, 
T.  Lynch  Hamilton, 
Robert  Hayne, 
Joseph  Huger, 
T.  Pinkney  Huger, 
Ralph  S.  Izard, 
John  Jenkins, 


Carolina. 

Keating  S.  Laurens, 

George  Macbride, 

T.  Pinkney  Middleton, 

J.  Motte  Middleton, 

M.  Irvine  Millikin, 

John  Millikin, 

John  S.  Perrier, 

Ferdinand  A.  Perrier, 

John  R.  Pringle, 

J.  Hamilton  Priolean, 

J.  Harleston  Read, 

James  W.  Read, 

T.  Pinkney  Rutledge, 

Robert  Smith, 

H.  Laurens  Toomer, 

W.  Drayton  Warley, 

James  Wilkinson. 


From   Georgia. 


Edward  C.  Anderson, 
Clarence  Barclay, 
William  I).  Berrien, 
Thomas  Bourke, 
William  Bourke, 
T.  Jefferson  Bullock, 
Oliver  Burroughs, 
Robert  Habersham, 
B.  Elliot  Habersham, 


William  B.  Hooke, 
Francis  H.  Hooke, 


William  N.  Habersham, 
Leonard  C.  Hunter, 
John  C.  Hunter, 
William  P.  Johnston, 
George  Noble  Jones, 
George  Kollock, 
Robert  Mackay, 
Samuel  Stiles, 
Henry  C.  Wayne. 

From  Mississippi. 

Richard  B.  Hooke, 
Moses  J.  Hooke. 


358  APPENDIX. 


From  Louisiana. 
William  S.  Johnston,  Richard  M'Call. 

Thomas  C.  Servoss. 

From  Tennessee. 
Arthur  M.  Rutledge. 

From  Ohio. 
William  Barr,  Benjamin  Tappan. 

From  Michigan. 
Samuel  Dexter. 

From  Lower  Canada. 

Aaron  David,  Moses  E.  David, 

Charles  H.  Gates. 

From  the  West  Indies. 

William  J.  Bastian,  William  Murphy, 

Trajan  Laburthie,  Thomas  Murphy, 

Jasper  N.  Murphy. 

From  Mexico. 

John  C.  Cano,  Francis  de  la  Vega  y  Rabago, 

John  Palacios,  Lorenzo  de  Zavala. 

From  Brazil. 
John  J.  White,  James  White. 

Transatlantic. 
John  Kennett,  Herman  Schroeder. 


APPENDIX.  359 

APPENDIX  C. 

Testimonial  Dinner  to  Joseph   Green  Cogswell,  LL.  D.,  by  Round  Hill 
Scholars,  December  i,  1864. 

PRESENT. 

Joseph  G.  Cogswell, 
Dr.  Beck,  Hon.  Geo.  S.  Hillard,  Prof.  Benj.  Pierce. 

T.  C.  Amory,  Jr.,  John  T.  Morse, 

T.  G.  Appleton,  Benjamin  E.  Morse, 

George  A.  Bethune,  Samuel  T.  Morse, 

George  W.  Bond,  William  R.  Robeson, 

Henry  V.  Degen,  George  C.  Shattuck, 

John  M.  Forbes,  S.  Parkman  Shaw, 

George  Gardner,  Nathaniel  B.  Shurtleff, 

Francis  A.  Gray,  Samuel  B.  Swett, 

U.  Tracy  Howe,  George  \V.  Wales, 

Joseph  Lyman,  Samuel  G.  Ward. 

By  request,  Mr.  Cogswell  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

My  dear  Boys,  —  No  ordinary  occasion  could  have  drawn  me  from 
the  retirement  which  age  and  its  infirmities  have  now  made  necessary 
for  me  ;  and  my  being  here  proves  to  you  that  I  do  not  regard  this  as 
one  of  that  character.  I  looked  upon  a  meeting  with  so  many  pupils 
of  by-gone  days  as  a  patriarch  of  old  must  have  looked  upon  the  gath- 
ering-around  him  of  his  children,  at  the  close  of  life  ;  and  could  make 
but  one  answer  to  your  filial  message:  "  It  is  enough  ;  I  will  go  and 
see  them  before  I  die."  The  banner  under  which  you  have  rallied  is 
that  of  Round  Hill ;  and  for  me  there  is  magic  in  that  word  ;  the  in- 
stant it  falls  upon  my  ears,  my  sluggish  blood  regains  its  youthful 
warmth  and  quickness,  and  I  am  carried  back  to  the  time  when  I 
stood  in  loco  parentis  to  as  fine,  and  quite  as  numerous,  a  family,  as 
ever  patriarch  of  old  was  blessed  with.  And  here,  my  dear  friends, 
let  me  thank  you,  as  I  do  from  my  inmost  heart,  for  this  expression  of 
your  kind  feelings  towards  the  friend  and  teacher  of  your  \outh. 
These  two  relations  are  often  thought  incompatible  by  boys  ;  but  you, 
when  boys,  gave  me  daily  proof  that  you  did  not  then  so  regard  them  ; 


2,6o  APPENDIX. 

and  the  spirit  now  manifested  to  all  your  teachers  here  present  proves, 
that,  in  your  riper  years,  you  do  not  so  regard  them.  In  this  connec- 
tion, I  must  beg  leave,  even  at  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  vanity, 
to  mention  a  fact,  in  corroboration  of  the  statement  just  made,  which 
was  very  gratifying  to  me.  Most,  if  not  all  of  you,  must  remember  at 
school,  Robert  Lowell,  "  little  Robert "  as  we  all  called  him,  not 
merely  because  he  was  the  smallest  and  youngest  of  all  the  pupils, 
but  as  a  term  of  endearment  ;  for  everybody  loved  him  then,  as  every- 
body loves  him  now  who  lives  in  the  circle  of  sunlight  created  by  his 
presence.  Last  year  he  published  a  new  edition  of  his  beautiful 
poems,  which  he  did  me  the  honor  to  dedicate  to  me.  In  the  dedica- 
tion, after  my  name,  he  adds,  "to  whom  the  boy  brought  his  lessons 
with  much  love  and  without  fear,  the  man  offers  this  book  as  fearlessly 
and  with  no  less  love."  Now,  my  friends,  these  few  touching  words 
express  precisely  the  kind  of  feeling  towards  me  which  I  sought  to 
create  in  all  of  you,  when  you  were  pupils  at  the  school ;  and  here  to- 
day I  have  evidence  that  I  must  have  been  understood,  and  that  the 
impression  then  made  has  never  been  effaced  from  your  hearts.  And 
herein  is  the  charm  which  makes  Round  Hill  so  dear  to  me  ;  it  bound 
me  closer  to  a  greater  number  of  my  fellow  beings  than  all  other  rela- 
tions of  my  life  ;  and  now,  when  I  am  old  and  childless,  it  carries  me 
back  to  palmy  days,  and  surrounds  me  with  a  circle  of  loving  children. 
But,  in  addition  to  this  beautiful  inner  sentiment  connected  with 
Round  Hill,  there  is  also  a  beautiful  material  picture  which  should  not 
be  lost  sight  of. 

You  cannot  have  forgotten  that  sunny  hillside,  overlooking  a  fair 
and  fertile  valley,  enlivened  by  numerous  thriving  towns  and  villages, 
with  a  noble  river  winding  its  way  among  them,  and  a  bold  mountain 
range  for  the  background.  It  was  the  beauty  of  this  site,  and  its  well- 
known  salubrity,  that  induced  Mr.  Bancroft  and  myself  to  make  choice 
of  it  for  the  school  we  were  then  about  to  establish  ;  and  it  proved,  on 
occupation,  to  unite  all  the  advantages  we  anticipated,  and  give  reality 
to  the  fancy  picture  which  Milton  drew  of  a  place  of  education  for  his 
nephews,  Edward  and  John  Phillips.  The  chestnut  wood,  which 
covers  the  whole  summit  of  the  hill,  afforded  shelter  from  the  heats  of 
summer,  and  protection  from  the  piercing  northwestern  blasts  of  win- 
ter;  the  level,  dry,  sandy  grounds  in  the-  rear  were  just  the  thing  for 


APPENDIX.  36 1 

gymnastics  and  other  out-door  exercises,  to  say  nothing  of  Croney 
villages.  Then  came  the  necessary  appendages  to  such  an  establish- 
ment,—  a  garden  of  sufficient  extent  to  furnish  plenty  of  fresh  vege- 
tables during  summer,  and,  in  their  season,  ever  so  many  delicious 
melons  for  the  table,  and  some  to  spare,  that  never  found  their  way  to 
the  table  ;  a  well-stocked  farm,  with  sufficient  pasture  for  a  herd  of 
cows,  that,  night  and  morning,  filled  with  pure  and  wholesome  milk 
as  many  brimming  pails  as  were  needed  for  the  whole  family.  In  every 
other  respect,  careful  provision  was  made  for  the  creature  comforts  of 
a  young  family  blessed  with  good  appetites,  so  that  I  feel  quite  sure 
you  never  think  of  Round  Hill  as  a  "  Do-the-Boys'  Hall."  Nor  were 
health  and  recreation  forgotten  among  the  necessary  means  of  youth- 
ful culture.  A  pleasant  surrounding  country  invited  to  daily  excur- 
sions, either  on  foot,  or  in  the  saddle,  or  in  carriages  ;  and  once  a 
year,  at  least,  more  distant  regions  were  visited  ;  all  the  school  being 
enabled  to  share  in  the  frolic  by  the  expedient  of"  ride  and  tie,"  or  al- 
ternate tramp  and  cavalcade.  Then,  too,  there  was  bathing  in  sum- 
mer, skating  and  coasting  in  winter,  and  dancing  at  all  seasons.  You 
will  not,  I  think,  regard  the  foregoing  as  an  exaggerated  representa- 
tion of  what  was  done  at  Round  Hill  for  the  comfort,  health,  and 
amusement  of  the  pupils  of  the  school.  As  respects  moral  and  men- 
tal culture,  it  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words :  it  was  the  best  and 
of  the  highest  character  that  could  be  had.  If  this  statement  needed 
proof,  you  have  it  in  the  standing  attained  in  after  life  by  almost  every 
one  of  the  teachers  of  the  school  ;  as  men  of  science,  or  men  of  let- 
ters, or  men  in  public  life,  they  have  all  taken  high  rank.  Should  any 
one  say  that  this  was  all  for  nought,  that  the  school  is  now  among  the 
things  that  were,  and  that  the  expense  and  pains  bestowed  upon  build- 
ing it  up  were  lost  upon  those  who  received  its  benefits, —  my  dear 
friends,  that  we  are  here  met  together  is  a  proof  to  the  contrary.  You 
did  not  invite  us  here  (my  colleagues  and  myself)  merely  to  eat  a  good 
dinner,  and  drink  a  glass  of  choice  wine  ;  but  it  was  to  express  to  us, 
in  most  unequivocal  language,  that  you  had  treasured  up  in  your 
hearts,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  a  feeling  of  deep  gratitude  for  what 
we  did  for  you  at  Round  Hill.  In  my  view,  this  feeling  and  this  ex- 
pression of  it  are  worth  an  infinite  deal  more  than  it  ever  cost  us  to 
obtain  it ;  and  there  is  a  large  item  to  be  added  to  the  account,  —  the 
46 


362  APPENDIX. 

cheerful  diligence,  and  correct,  manly  deportment  by  which  you  mani- 
fested your  gratitude  when  boys  for  our  efforts  to  make  you  happy, 
and  prepare  you  for  the  business  of  life.  Your  conduct  then,  and 
your  characters  now,  are  the  grounds  on  which  the  associations  with 
Round  Hill  have  become  so  delightful  to  me. 

My  former  relation  to  you  must  be  my  apology  for  here  adding  a 
few  words  in  behalf  of  the  teachers  of  your  children,  and  of  the  voca- 
tion of  instruction  generally.  If  teachers  are  faithful,  they  are  enti- 
tled to  the  respect,  confidence,  and  cooperation  of  parents.  The  oc- 
cupation at  best  is  but  a  thankless  one  ;  the  culture  of  mind,  and  the 
formation  of  character,  are,  practically  considered,  of  less  importance 
to  youth  than  the  knowledge  of  the  every-day  business  of  life,  and  the 
art  of  growing  rich.  If  a  teacher  is  a  mere  hireling,  he  has  as  much 
social  consideration  as  he  is  entitled  to  ;  but  one  who  has  a  full  sense 
of  his  responsibility,  and  labors  for  the  improvement  of  the  child  with 
parental  affection,  without  a  parent's  blindness,  is  an  invaluable  friend 
both  to  parent  and  child.  Of  my  varied  occupations  in  life,  I  look 
upon  none  with  so  much  satisfaction  as  that  of  my  labors  at  Round 
Hill,  endeavoring  to  train  up  ingenuous  youth  "to  the  love  of  learn- 
ing and  the  admiration  of  virtue."  You,  my  friends,  are  witnesses  to 
the  world  that  I  did  not  labor  in  vain.  I  am  confident  of  an  affirma- 
tive response  from  all  present,  when  I  say  that  Round  Hill  is  still  a 
hallowed  spot, — hallowed,  I  mean,  in  its  recollections;  although,  in 
its  material  character,  it  is  profaned  to  ordinary  purposes  ;  but  its 
name  remains,  and  that  must  bring  back  so  many  scenes  and  incidents 
of  your  joyous  youth,  it  must  ever  be  dear  to  you.  Once  more,  dear 
boys,  I  give  you  all  a  most  cordial  and  affectionate  greeting  ;  we  can 
look  back  upon  our  past  without  reproach  or  heart-burnings  ;  the  re- 
bellions in  our  little  commonwealth  have  all  long  been  forgotten  ;  and 
the  instances  of  supposed  injustice  to  the  rebellious,  I  trust,  long  since 
forgiven.  God  bless  you  all  and  every  one  who  bears  the  name  of 
"  Roundhiller,"  wherever  he  may  be,  even  if  among  the  rebels  to  our 
country  ! 


APPENDIX.  363 

APPENDIX  D. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library,  on  the  30///  No- 
vember, 1864,  — 

Present,  Mr.  William  B.  Astor,  President,  and  Messrs.  Daniel  Lord, 
Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  Major-general  John  A.  Dix,  Messrs.  James  Car- 
son Brevoort,  John  Jacob  Astor,  Jr.,  Hamilton  Fish,  and  Dr.  Thomas 
M.  Markoe. 

A  communication  having  been  received  by  the  President  from 
Joseph  G.  Cogswell,  LL.  D.,  former  Superintendent  of  the  Library, 
resigning  his  office  as  Trustee,  in  consequence  of  his  removal  from  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  Committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report 
the  steps  proper  to  be  taken  by  the  Board,  submitted  the  following 
resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library  deem  it  due  to 
their  late  associate,  and  to  the  history  of  letters  in  America,  to  testify 
not  only  their  sincere  regret  to  lose  the  benefit  of  his  counsel  and 
cooperation  in  the  management  of  their  trust,  but  their  high  apprecia- 
tion of  his  valuable  and  long  continued  services  to  the  institution  from 
its  origin,  reaching  back  to  his  early  intercourse  with  the  late  Mr. 
Astor,  the  honoured  Founder  of  the  Library,  as  his  confidential  friend 
and  adviser. 

Throughout  this  period,  embracing  nearly  twenty  years,  Doctor 
Cogswell  has  faithfully  devoted  to  the  Library,  the  unremitting  efforts 
of  his  well  directed  and  spotless  life,  exhibiting  a  singular  union  of 
learning  and  ability,  of  efficiency  and  discretion,  of  modesty  and 
taste,  of  energy,  industry,  and  disinterestedness,  —  abundantly  mani- 
fested in  the  Library  itself,  the  fruit  of  his  untiring  labors,  and  a  last- 
ing evidence  of  the  rare  and  varied  qualifications  he  so  happily  com- 
bines. 

Without  attempting  fully  to  recount  or  record  the  services  which 
have  enduringly  connected  his  name  with  the  Institution,  the  Trustees 
would  particularly  acknowledge  his  eminent  ability  and  his  varied  bib- 
liographical learning  in  preparing  the  Preliminary  Index  of  Books 
needed  for  a  Library  of  moderate  extent,  in  its  early  stages,  —  a  work 
which  must  materially  facilitate  the  formation  of  other  libraries 
throughout  our  country. 


364  APPENDIX. 

They  would  further  attest  their  appreciation  of  his  activity,  econ- 
omy, and  business  faculty,  enabling  hiin  in  repeated  visits  to  Europe, 
to  purchase  books  at  rates  so  advantageous  as  to  carry  the  Library, 
without  exceeding  the  original  endowment,  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  Preliminary  Index.  Especially  would  they  acknowledge  his  ar- 
duous and  self  devoting  labors,  in  preparing  and  perfecting  the  "  Al- 
phabetical Catalogue  "  of  the  existing  Library,  and  his  unwearied 
care  in  supervising  its  accurate  publication,  and  above  all,  his  impor- 
tant and  highly  valued  services  in  arranging  the  "  Analytical  Cata- 
logue"  now  approaching  its  completion. 

To  this  brief  and  imperfect  outline  of  the  official  labors  of  Doctor 
Cogswell,  the  Trustees  would  affectionately  add  the  expression  of  the 
pleasure  which  all  of  them  have  uniformly  experienced  in  the  genial 
and  kindly  intercourse  of  so  many  years,  with  the  associate  and  friend 
from  whom  they  now  part  with  so  much  reluctance,  and  of  their  heart- 
fe-lt  wishes  for  his  continued  health  and  happiness. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  preceding  resolutions,  duly  authenti- 
cated, be  transmitted  to  Dr.  Cogswell. 

A  true  copy  from  the  minutes. 

Wm.  B.  Astor,  President. 

Samuel  B.  Ruggi.es,  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  E. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library,  held 
in  the  Library  on  the  sixth  of  December,  1871,  there  were  present, — 

The  President,  Mr.  William  B.  Astor,  and  Messrs.  Samuel  B.  Rug- 
gles,  John  A.  Dix,  James  Carson  Brevoort,  John  Jacob  Astor,  Doctor 
Thomas  Markoe,  M.  D.,  and  Messrs.  William  J.  Hoppin,  John  Romeyn 
Brodhead,  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  Trustees. 

The  President  announced  to  the  Board  the  death  of  Doctor  Joseph 
G.  Cogswell,  LL.  D.,  the  first  Superintendent  of  the  Astor  Library, 
who  died  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  on  Sunday,  the  26th  of  No- 
vember last ;  whereupon,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Hoppin,  it  was 

Resolved,   That   a  Committee  be    appointed    to   prepare   a   proper 


APPENDIX.  365 

minute  to  be  entered  on  the  records  of  the  Board,  expressing  their 
profound  regret  at  the  death  of  Doctor  Cogswell,  and  their  recognition 
of  his  extensive  learning,  the  singular  excellence  of  his  private  char- 
acter, and  his  long  continued  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Institu- 
tion. 

The  President  thereupon  appointed  Messrs.  Hoppin,  Hamilton,  and 
Ruggles  as  the  Committee  for  the  purpose. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board,  on  the  tenth  day  of  January, 
1872,  the  Committee  reported  the  following  minute,  which  was  unani- 
mously approved,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  records  of  the 
Board  :  — 

The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  in  relation  to  the 
death  of  Doctor  Cogswell,  beg  leave  to  report  the  following,  to  be 
placed  on  the  records  of  the  Trustees. 

The  Trustees  of  the  Astor  Library,  on  the  resignation,  on  the  30th 
of  November,  1864,  by  Joseph  G.  Cogswell,  LL.  D.,  the  first  Super- 
intendent of  the  Library,  —  of  his  office  of  Trustee,  had  the  grateful 
privilege  of  recording  their  acknowledgment  of  the  constancy  with 
which,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  he  had  devoted  to  this  Institution  the 
unremitting  efforts  of  his  well  directed  and  spotless  life.  They  took 
occasion  to  indicate  his  great  ability  in  composing  the  "  Preliminary 
Index  of  Books  "  needed  for  a  Library,  his  extraordinary  judgment 
and  economy  in  purchasing  their  own  collection,  and  the  diligence 
and  extensive  bibliographical  knowledge  he  had  displayed  in  prepar- 
ing the  "  Alphabetical  Catalogue."  They  added  to  this  their  sincere 
regret  in  losing  the  benefit  of  his  counsel  and  cooperation  in  the 
management  of  their  trust,  and  their  heartfelt  wishes  for  his  continued 
health  and  happiness. 

The  Trustees  have  now,  seven  years  after  thus  taking  leave  of  Doc- 
tor Cogswell  as  an  active  colleague,  heard  of  his  decease  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  26th  day  of  November 
last,  and  they  desire  to  record  anew,  their  affectionate  admiration  of 
his  character  and  sorrow  for  his  loss. 

For  the  whole  period  between  the  removal  of  Doctor  Cogswell  from 
New  York  to  the  date  of  his  lamented  death,  he  continued  to  take  a 
lively  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Library.     He  was  able  to  complete, 


366  APPENDIX. 

not  long  after  his  retirement,  the  "  Analytical  Catalogue  "  upon  which 
he  was  engaged  at  that  time.  This  book,  if  it  had  been  produced 
by  a  mature  and  vigorous  scholar,  at  the  most  robust  period  of  his 
life,  would  have  been  a  remarkable  proof  of  knowledge  and  practical 
skill,  but,  as  the  work  of  an  octogenarian,  embarrassed  by  bodily  in- 
firmities, it  may  be  considered  a  literary  curiosity,  as  well  as  the  most 
valuable  American  contribution  to  the  department  to  which  it  belongs. 

Doctor  Cogswell  did  not  confine  himself  to  these  more  quiet  labors 
in  behalf  of  the  Library,  but  frequently  gave  to  the  Trustees  the 
benefit  of  his  active  help  and  his  wise  counsels,  whenever  they  were 
solicited,  and  this,  always,  with  great  delicacy  and  disinterestedness. 

There  was  something  singularly  touching  in  his  devotion,  at  an  age 
when  such  sentiments  usually  become  feeble  and  silent,  to  an  Insti- 
tution remote  from  his  residence,  and  with  which  he  had  scarcely  any 
ties,  except  those  of  memory. 

The  Trustees  will  not  attempt,  in  this  brief  entry  in  their  minutes, 
to  expatiate  upon  those  numerous,  excellent  traits  in  the  character  of 
their  former  colleague,  of  which  his  biographer  might  find  abundant 
proof  and  illustrations.  They  will  only  permit  themselves  to  mention 
his  simple  and  unaffected  kindliness  of  manner,  the  gracious  urbanity 
with  which  he  discharged  all  his  official  duties,  his  loyalty  as  a  friend, 
his  fresh  and  genial  impulses  which  overcame  all'  the  sluggishness  of 
age,  his  fidelity  and  affectionate  considerateness  as  a  teacher,  his  ab- 
solute freedom  from  literary  and  personal  ambition,  and  his  unstained 
integrity  and  purity  of  life. 

The  recollection  of  these  excellences  will  make  his  memory  forever 
dear  to  all  who  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  him,  and  particularly  to 
those  who  had  been  associated  with  him  in  the  care  of  an  Institution 
which  was  the  centre  of  his  hopes  and  the  dearest  object  of  his 
labors. 

William  J.  Hoppin,         \ 
Alexander  Hamilton,    >•  Committee. 
Samuel  B.  Ruggles.        ) 

On  motion  of  General  Dix  it  was 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  preceding  minute  on  the  records  of 


APPENDIX.  367 

the  Astor  Library,  duly  authenticated  by  the  President  and  the  Secre- 
tary, be  transmitted  to  the  family  of  Doctor  Cogswell  at  Cambridge. 
A  true  copy  from  the  minutes. 

Wm.  B.  Astor,  President. 
Astor  Library, 

New  York,  November  10,  1872. 
Samuel  B.  Ruggles, 

Trustee  and  Secretary. 


APPENDIX  F. 

From  the  "Boston  Evening  Transcript." 

IN  MEMORIAM. 

J.  G.  C. 

Another  beautiful  life  has  come  to  its  earthly  close  ; 

Another  earthly  light  is  fixed  as  a  star  in  the  sky  ; 
Another  patient  toiler  goes  home  to  his  long  repose  ; 

Another  lowly  disciple  goes  up  to  his  seat  on  high. 

The  teacher,  eager  to  learn,  the  master  modest  and  mild, 

Has  gone  with  his  thirsty  soul  to  the  well-spring  of  perfect  truth  ; 
The  old  man,  in  whom  to  the  last  was  seen  the  warm  heart  of  a 
child, 
Now  drinks,  with  the   sons  of  God,  from  the  fount  of  immortal 
youth. 

Farewell  !  O  teacher  revered,  wise-hearted  companion  and  friend, 
Hail  newly  chosen  of  God  to  be  one  of  the  shining  band 

Who  summon  us  by  their  lives  to  be  faithful  unto  the  end, 
Whose  exodus  bids  us  arise  and  seek  the  immortal  land. 

C.  T.  B. 


INDEX. 


Abbotsford,  visit  to,  95. 

Aberdeen,  125. 

Albano,  20S. 

Algiers,  7,  8. 

Althorp  Park  and  Library,  249,  250. 

American  Landsmannschaft  at  Gbttingen, 
52. 

Amory,  T.  C,  Jr.,  359. 

Ames,  Fisher,  6,  99  n.  ;  death  of,  7. 

Amsterdam,  255. 

Angouleme,  Due  d',  39,  note. 

Appleton,  T.  G. :  article  on  Round  Hill, 
138  n.,  150  n.,  156  n.,  i5Sn.,  299,  and 
note,  347,  and  note  ;  mentioned,  301. 

Appleyard,  Mr.,  librarian  of  Althorp,  250. 

Articles  by  J.  G.  C.  in  "  Blackwood," 
99,  and  note  ;  "  North  American,"  106 
n. ;  "  New  York  Review,"  215,  and 
note  ;  "  Methodist  Quarterly,"  235  n. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  138,  213,  214;  con- 
sults J.  G.  C.  about  his  gift  to  the  cityi 
216 ;  desires  him  to  live  with  him,  217  ; 
affairs  of  the  Library,  219,  220,  221,  225 
226 ;  J.  G.  C.  goes  to  live  in  house 
adjoining  his,  226 ;  opposes  the  mission 
to  Spain,  229,  231  ;  agrees  to  proposi- 
tions, 231,  232  n.  ;  keeps  him  with  him 
till  his  death,  232  ;  indecision,  233 ; 
dependence,  234,  235,  236 ;  death, 
238. 

Astor,  John  J.,  Jr.,  2S1,  363,  364. 

Astor  Library,  13S;  suggestion  of,  216; 
first  purchases  for,  220;  Catalogue,  221, 
225  ;  plans  for  building,  226  ;  begun  in 
earnest,  239  ;  J.  G.  C.  first  Superintend- 
ent, 239;  rare  books  bought  for,  247, 
47 


24S  ;  house  in  Bond  Street  used  for 
storing,  252  n. ;  building  begun,  252  n. ; 
rapid  growth,  259,  261  ;  list  and  index, 
260 ;  building  finished,  263  ;  opened, 
264  ;  use  of,  265  ;  addition  to,  269,  and 
note,  277,  and  note ;  character  and 
growth,  269  ;  Catalogue  or  alphabet- 
ical index,  274,  275,  and  note,  278; 
J.  G.  C.  resigns  office,  288 ;  new 
Catalogue,  290,  and  note,  291,  297, 
and  note,  305,  307  ;  J.  G.  C.  living  in, 
292,  293,  297 ;  resigns  Trusteeship, 
297  n. ;  vote  of  Trustees  on  the  occa- 
sion, 363  ;  vote  of  Trustees  on  comple- 
tion of  Supplementary  Catalogue,  307 
n.  ;  J.  G.  C.  assists  in  choice  of  third 
Superintendent,  338,  339 ;  vote  of 
Trustees,  339  n. ;  resolutions  of  Trus- 
tees on  Mr.  Cogswell's  death,  364. 
Astor,  William  B.,  221  ;  interested  in 
the  Library,  226,  239,  241,  242,  and 
note,  254,  261,  268  ;  doubles  the  build- 
ing, 269,  and  note,  271  ;  place  on  the 
Hudson,  270  n. ;  mentioned,  274,  2S1  ; 
new  donation  to  Library,  290  n. ;  men- 
tioned,  301,  306,  310,  334,   339,   363, 

364.  367- 
Astor,  Mrs.  W.  B.,  252  n.,  261,  271,  292, 

301,  306,  310,  323,  334,  339. 
Astor,  W.,  Jr.,  257  n.,  334,  338. 
Astor,  Mrs.  W.,  Jr.,  296,  339  ;  letters  to, 

325.  335.  337- 
Atkins,  Dudley  :   letters  to,  61  n.,  77,  93. 
Atkinson,    New    Hampshire :   J.    G.    C- 

sent  to  school  at,  2. 
Avignon  and  neighboring  places,  256. 


37° 


INDEX. 


Bacciochi,    Elisc    Bonaparte,     Princess, 

101  n. 
Baltimore,  visits,  129,  1S6,  236,  237,  267  ; 

mob,  2S6. 
Bancroft,  George,  107,   135,   136,  139  n., 

140,  143  n.,  145,  148,  150  n.,  152  n.,  155 

n.,  156,   161,   164,   165,  and  note,  349, 

352- 

Bancroft,  Miss,  145. 

Barker,  Dr.  Fordyce,  276,  282. 

Barton,  Mrs.  Cora  Livingston,  328  n. 

Bavaria,  Maximilian  I.  (Joseph),  king  of, 
112-114. 

Beck,  Dr.,  300,  301,  359. 

Belfast,  Maine  :  life  in,  15,  16-20;  visits, 
28,  29  ;  compared  with  Scotch  High- 
lands, 126. 

Benecke,  Professor,  61,  67,  97. 

Berlin,  visits,  58,  59,  and  note,  223,  224, 
283. 

Bernard,  Duke  of  Saxe  Weimar,  159  n. 

Berne,  So,  82. 

Bethune,  G.  A.,  359. 

Bibliography  :  studies,  67  ;    unsurpassed 

in,  344- 

Blampain,  head  of  observatory  in  Mar- 
seilles, 43  n. 

Blumenbach,  Professor  of  Zoology,  etc, 
at  Gottingen,  60,  63,  97,  107,  10S. 

Bottiger,  K.  A.,  archaeologist,  99,  100. 

Bologna,  72 ;  route  to  Rome,  73- 

Bonaparte,  Lucien,  family  of,  76,   101  n. 

Bonaparte,  Jerome,  101  n. 

Bonaparte,  Louis,  101  n. 

Bond,  George  W.,  359. 

Bordentown,  266,  and  note,  291,  and  note, 
292,  297,  302,  305,  311,  312,  313,  314, 
316,  317,  3IQ.  32°- 

Borghese,   Pauline   Bonaparte,   Princess, 

74- 

Bossange,  M.  Hector,  2S2  ;  Madame, 
283. 

Boston,  Massachusetts  :  J.  G.  C.  studies 
law  in,  7,  II,  14;  shops  in,  32  ;  opin- 
ion of,  131  ;  visits,  35,  49,  127,  194  n., 
206,  212,  213  n.,  235,  270,  307  ;   Public 


Library,  269,  and  note  ;  Round  Hill 
boys  from,  299. 

Boston,  England,  123. 

Botany,  33,  62. 

Boutourlin  Library,  223. 

Bracciano,  Duchess  of,  76. 

Brandywine,  278. 

Bremen,  61. 

Brevoort,  Henry,  Trustee  of  Astor  Li- 
brary, 226. 

Brevoort,  James  Carson,  Trustee  of  As- 
tor Library,  363,  364. 

Brewster,  Sir  David,  123. 

Bristol,  England  :  Cogswell  family  came 
from,  2  n. 

Bristol,  Maine :  John  Cogswell  ship- 
wrecked near,  2  n. 

Brodhead,  J.  Romeyn,  Trustee  of  Astor 
Library,  364. 

Broglie,  Duchesse  de,  120. 

Bronte,  Charlotte,  333. 

Brooks,  Rev.  Charles  T.  :  poem  on  the 
death  of  J.  G.  C,  367. 

Brookline,  visits,  319,  323. 

Brussels,  251. 

Bulwer,  E.  L.,  Lord  Lytton,  173. 

Bulwer,  Sir  H.,  254. 

Bunsen,  Madame,  255. 

Burns,  Mrs.  William,  256,  307,  316,  340  ; 
letters  to,  266,  270,  271,  272,  275,  278, 
291,293,  295,  297,  299,321. 

Burns,  Walter,  298. 

Burns,  William  Coleman,  291  ;  letters  to, 
308,311,  314*  3l6>  317.  3!9.  3-°.  3-3. 
34°- 

Bust  of  Mr.  Cogswell,  by  Signor  Canta- 
lamessa,    given    to    Harvard  College, 

347- 
Buttmann    and    Buttmannische    Gesell- 

schaft,  59,  and  note. 
Byron,  Lord,  72,  98,  309. 

Calhoun,    J.    C,    129,    130,    193,    236, 

320. 
California  :  J.  G.  C.  thinks  of  going  to, 

290,327;   mentioned,  317,  319. 


INDEX. 


371 


Cambridge,  Massachusetts  :  J.  G.  C.  lives 
in,  30-36;  Observatory,  65,  118;  J. 
G.  C.  lives  in,  133,  134,  135  ;  builds  a 
house  in,  289,  292  ;  removes  to,  297. 

Cambridge,  England,  123. 

Capture  at  sea,  8. 

Capture  by  brigands,  9. 

Carlsbad,  100-102. 

Carlyle,   T.  :  J.  G.  C.'s  opinion  of,  219. 

Carolina,  North,  184,   199. 

Carolina,  South  :  politics  of,  182,  193, 
194,  2S0  ;  College,  193,  194  n.,  196. 

Cassel,  62. 

Catalogues :  Harvard  College  Library 
'34>  '35  !  Astor  Library,  241,  260,  274, 
275,  and  note,  290,  and  note,  291,  297, 
and  note,  305,  306,  307,  and  note,  364, 
305- 

Chalmers'  "  Political  Economy,"  179. 

Charleston,  S.  C.  :   visits,  1S1,  182,  2S0. 

"  Charleston  Courier,"  143  n. 

Classical  studies,  value  of,  161,  350,  351. 

Clay,  Henry,  130. 

Cleaveland's  Mineralogy  praised  by 
Goethe,  59  n. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  35. 

Cogswell,  Anstis  Manning  :  mother  of 
J.  G.  C,  2,  and  note,  49,  and  note;  her 
death,  51. 

Cogswell,  Elizabeth  :  sister  of  J.  G.  C,  2, 
145  ;  letters  to,  21,  22, 29,  30, 95  n.,  121, 
'-7,  133.  !34.  135;  death  of,  171,  172. 

Cogswell,  Francis:  father  of  J.  G.  C,  2, 
and  note. 

Cogswell,  John :  first  emigrant  of  the 
family,  2  n. 

Cogswell,  Joseph  Green  :  Amusements  as 
a  boy,  3,  5  ;  Adventures,  8,  9,  50,  200  ; 
Attachment  to  Mary  Gilman  early,  24 ; 
Affliction  at  her  death,  23,  25,  28,  39  : 
Attention  to  meteorology,  43  n.,67  ;  to 
observatories,  43  n.,  65,  94 ;  to  mer- 
cantile affairs,  40,  46  :  Character, 
drawn  by  G.  Ticknor,  25,  53,  73,  134, 
227  n.,  242  n.  ;  by  Washington  Irving, 
229  11.  :  Cheerfulness  in  old  age,  332, 
341  ;   Deafness,  and  its  effects,  293 ; 


Desire  for  knowledge,  66,  and  note  ; 
Devotion  to  the  Astor  Library,  265, 
269,  274,277,  and  note,  278,  279,  291  ; 
Distress  at  being  in  debt,  178,  1S3, 184, 
185  ;  Effect  of  his  character  at  Round 
Hill,  138,  139, and  note:  Feeling  about 
Germany,  68  ;  about  Venice,  72  ;  about 
home,  86,  94  ;  on  leaving  Europe,  121, 
125  ;  on  the  death  of  Mr.  S.  Ward, 
222  :  Happiness  in  Belfast,  16,  29  ;  in 
Switzerland,  79 ;  in  Rome,  76 ;  in 
Tours,  11S;  in  Portland,  132;  in 
Bordentown,  314;  in  Newport,  267: 
Ideas  on  conducting  a  review,  219: 
Love  of  country,  210;  of  books,  16, 
17 ;  of  exploring,  66,  and  note,  92  ;  of 
fun,  96  n. ;  of  mountain  life,  79  ;  of  his 
native  town  and  county,  4  ;  of  nature, 
73,  115;  of  independence,  218;  of 
roving,  321  :  Opinion  of  E.  Everett  as 
a  preacher,  31  ;  of  Walter  Scott,  14, 
91,  95,  296;  of  Byron,  98,  309  ;  of  Cal- 
houn and  Clay,  130;  of  Carlyle,  219  ; 
of  Webster,  261  ;  of  slavery,  168,  192, 
203  ;  of  Dickens,  229  ;  of  John  Wilson, 
295  ;  of  secession,  286,  2S7  ;  Qualities, 
affection  for  friends,  34,  36,  47,  48,  84, 
125,  155,  162,  172,  276,  322,  328; 
humane  feelings,  8,  17,  18,  19,  70,  126, 
310,  316;  impetuosity,  25,  26,  274; 
need  of  society,  27,  153,  169,  214; 
gratitude,  29,  176;  forbearance,  287 
n. :  Remarks  on  art,  9,  59  n.,  72,  257, 
259 ;  Sense  of  his  loneliness,  52,  54, 
172  :  Studies  law,  7,  11,  15,  26;  Latin, 
30  ;  Greek,  40  ;  Romaic,  40  ;  Italian, 
40,  61  ;  Spanish,  40,  42 ;  German,  51  ; 
botany,  33,  54,  60,  61,  62  ;  mineralogy, 
54,  60,  61,  62,  74,  77  ;  natural  science, 
120;  statistics,  51;  art,  51;  bibliog- 
raphy, 67,  and  note  :  Thoughts  on  ed- 
ucation, 44,  So,  81,  88,  99,  108,  115, 
128,  141,  143,  and  note,  144,  145,  148, 
150,  and  note,  151,  158,  161,  1S0,  18S, 
201,  206  n.,  349-353  ;  on  letter-writing, 
14,  273  ;  on  Italy,  308,  309 ;  on  effects 
of  travel,  78,  81 ;  on  death,  330. 


372 


INDEX. 


Cogswell,  Mrs.  Joseph  Green  :  marriage, 
15;  illness,  16;  postscript  to  a  letter, 
21  ;  death,  22  ;  character,  24. 

Columbia,  S.  C.  :  visits,  193  ;  offers  from, 
194  n.,  196. 

Constable,  Archibald,  96. 

Constant,  Benjamin,  55,  120. 

Copenhagen,  visits,  259. 

Cork,  2S2. 

Correa  de  Serra,  Abbe,  44,  and  note. 

Correggio,  72. 

Daveis,  Charles  Stewart :  early  friend  of 
J.  G.  C,  8,  25,  35,  230  n.,  232  n.  ;  mar- 
ries Miss  E.  T.  Oilman,  31  n.,  35  ;  his 
position,  132  n. ;  letters  to,  first,  13, 
last,  2S3. 

Daveis,  Mrs.  Charles  S.,  155,  197;  let- 
ters to,  48,  56,  92,  132,  157,  205. 

Daveis,  J.  T.  Gilman,  15S,  323,  and  note  ; 
letter  to,  213  n. 

Daveis,  Mary  Cogswell,  198,  and  note, 
2S2  n.     See  Haskins,  Mrs.  D.  G. 

Dedham,  studies  law  in,  6. 

Degen,  Henry  V.,  359. 

Delano,  F.  H.,  323,  334. 

Delano,  Mrs.  F.  H.,  letters  to,  329,  331. 

Devereux,  Mr.,  204. 

Dexter,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Franklin.  142,  and 
note,  149,  190. 

"Diary  of  a  Physician,"  169. 

Dibdin's  "  /Edes  Althorpianae,"  249,  250. 

Dickens,  Charles,  229. 

Dix,  Major-Gen.  John  A.,  Trustee  of  As- 
tor  Library,  363,  364,  366. 

Domenichino,  210. 

Drayton,  Mr.,  280. 

Dresden,  59  n.,  97-100,  102,  105,  108, 
222,  223. 

Duanesburg,  323,  324. 

Dublin,  282. 

Duyckinck,  E.  A.,  244  n. 

Ebeling,  C.  D.,  Prof,  61. 
Edenton,  N.  C,  1S6. 
Edgar,  Daniel,  1 54. 
Edinburgh,  S9-96,  122-125. 


Education  in  America,  article  on,  99,  and 
note. 

Education,  national  and  university,  arti- 
cles on,  215  n. 

Education,  thoughts  on.  See  Cogswell, 
Joseph  Green. 

Eichhorn,  97,  108. 

Eliot,  Mrs.,  142. 

Eliot,  Samuel,  298. 

Emery,  Mrs.  Nicholas,  letter  of,  23  n. 

England,  visits,  II,  89,  123,  223,  242,  254, 
261,  2S2,  2S4. 

English  language  and  literature,  study  of, 

35°- 
Escher  de  la  Linth,  85  n. 
Essex  County,  Massachusetts  :  J.  G.  C.'s 

pride  in,  4. 
Essex  Junto,  320,  and  note. 
Europe,  voyages  to,  7,  37,  50,  206,  221, 

242,  254,  261,282. 
Europe,  future  of,  211. 
European  statistics:  studies,  51. 
European  refinements  desired  for  Amer- 
ica, 7S. 
Everett,  Edward,  29,  31,  4S,  and  note,  50, 

51.61,63,93. 
Exeter,    New    Hampshire,   2,   5,   11,    13, 

15  n.,  16,  17,  20,  21,  22,  23  n.,  33,  49, 

131.  3=5  n. 
Exploring,  plans  for,  66,  and  note,  91,  93, 

129,  130. 

Farm  school  near  Boston,  70  n. 

Farrar,  Prof.  J.,  letters  to,  42  n.,  53,  65, 
68,94. 

Federal  party,  320. 

Fellenberg,  M.  de.     See  Hofwyl. 

Feoffees  of  Ipswich  School,  2. 

Fish,  Hamilton,  Trustee  of  Astor  Li- 
brary, 363. 

Fletcher,  Mrs.,  96,  and  note. 

Florence,  9,  256. 

Forbes,  J.  M.,  359. 

France,  visits,  9,  10,  37,  87,  116,  208,223, 
251,255,282. 

Francis,  Dr.  J.  W.,  letter  to,  222. 

Frankfort,  50,  55. 


INDEX. 


',73 


Gardner,  George,  359. 

Geneseo,  N.  Y.,  132,  226. 

Geneva,    Switzerland,    79,   So,   81,  84 ; 

lake  of,  115. 
Genoa,  256. 
Gerard,  Baron,  208. 
German,  study  of  language,  51. 
Germany,   charm  of,  68,  77  ;   change  of 

feeling  for,  102. 
Ghost  story,  281  n. 

Gibbon's  History,  admiration  for,  171. 
Gibraltar,  7,  9,  11. 
Gilman,  John  Taylor,  Governor  of  New 

Hampshire,  5,  15,  23,  and  note,  131. 
Gilman,  Miss  Elizabeth  T.,  15,  16,  31  n., 

32,  35  ;  letters  to,  7,  9,  11,  28,  31.   See 

Daveis,  Mrs.  C.  S. 
Gilman,  Miss  Mary  F.,  7,  14  n.,  15;  let- 
ter to,  from  N.  A.  Haven,  10  ;  marries 

J.   G.   Cogswell,   15.     See   Cogswell, 

Mrs.  J.  G. 
Gilpin,  Mrs.,  letter  from,  2S7  n. 
Glarus,  assembly  in,  82. 
Goethe,  55,  and  note  ;  J.  G.  C.  visits,  56, 

57,  58,  and  note  ;  corresponds  with,  59 

n. ;  portrait  of,  64,  and  note,  65  ;  visits, 

97,   104,  and   note,    105  ;   letter  from, 

105. 
Gbttingen,  47,  48,  50-56,  60-67,  7^,  97, 

107  ;  J.  G.  C.   receives  degree  of  Ph. 

D.  107  n.  ;  visits  again,  223. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  75. 
Goodwin  Sands,  50,  and  note. 
Gordon,  Mrs.,  Life  of  J.  Wilson,  296. 
Grant,  Mrs.  A.,  of  Laggan,  95,  and  note, 

96. 
Grant,  Miss  Mary,  124. 
Gray,  Francis  A.,  359. 
Gray,  Francis  C,  207,  and  note. 
Gray,    William,    10,  and    note,   38,   47, 

207  n. 
Greece,  plan  for  journey  in,  39,  and  note, 

40,  46,  48,  93. 
Greek,    ancient   and    modern   language : 

studies,  40. 
Greenough,  Horatio,  257. 


Hairbreadth   escapes,   3,  4,    5,    50,   and 

note,  200  n. 
Hallam,  II.,  243. 
Halleck,  Fitz  Greene,  213. 
Hamburg,  61,  223,  258,  282. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  Trustee  of  Astor 

Library,  364,  365,  366. 
Hamilton,  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 

193,  194  n.,   196. 
Hartford,    146,     147;   degree  of    LL.D. 

from  Trinity  College,  295  n. 
Harvard   College,  Cambridge  :  J.  G.  C. 

enters,  5  ;  attached  to,  6,  24  ;  tutor  in, 

29-37 !  Professor  and  Librarian,  130- 

135  ;  degree  of  LL.D.  from,   295   n. ; 

Commencement    at,    317,    31S;    bust 

presented  to,  348. 
Harz  mountains,  62,  63,  64. 
Haskins,  Rev.  D.  G  ,  282  n.,  2S3,  2S5,  2S9, 

314,  343  i  Otters  to,  297,  322,  327, 334. 
Haskins,   Mrs.  D.  G.,  282  n.(  2S9,  290, 

343  ;  letters  to,  282,  284. 
Haskins,  D.  G.,  jr.,  283. 
Hausmann,  professor  of  geology  in  Got- 

tingen,  60,  61,  and  note,  62,  97. 
Haiiy,  Abbe,  77,  and  note. 
Haven,  N.  A.,  131,  and  note;   letter  to 

Miss  M.  F.  Gilman,  10. 
Hayne,  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  193, 

196. 
Heeren,  A.  H.   L.,  professor  of  history 

at  Giittingen,  60,  97. 
Heidelberg,  210. 
Hellgate   near   New  York,  Mr.   Astor's 

country   place   at,  221,   225,  233,  234, 

235- 
Helvetic  Society  of  Natural  History,  J. 

G.  C.  member  of,  107  n. 
Hentz,  Mr.,  137,  145, 155  n. 
Highlands,  Scottish,  126. 
Hillard,  George  S.,  300,  344,  359. 
Hofwyl  school,  So  and  note,  S7,  99. 
Hogg,  James,  95. 
Holland,  50,  and  note. 
Homer    "  Princeps "    bought  for  Astor 
Library,  247. 


374 


INDEX. 


Honors  received  by  J.  G.  C.  :  degree  of 
Ph.  D.  ct  C.  M.,  107  n. ;  Helvetic  So- 
ciety of  Natural  History,  member,  107 
n.  ;  Munich  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  member,  112;  degree  of 
LL.D.  from  Trinity  College,  Hart- 
ford, 295  n.  ;  same  from  Harvard  Col- 
lege, 295  n. 

Hoppin,  W.  J.,  Trustee  of  Astor  Library, 
364,  3"S.  366. 

Howe,  U.  Tracy,  359. 

Hudson  River,  152  n.,  306,  307,  310,  317, 
323.  3=7  n. 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von,  224,  283. 

Improvvisatrice  in  Rome,  74. 

India,  voyage  to,  6,  191,  and  note. 

Ipswich,  England,  visits,  124. 

Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  2,  and  note,  4, 
21.  37.  4S,  49.  128,  130,  131.  330.  331. 
and  note. 

Ireland,  visits,  282. 

Irving,  Washington,  Trustee  of  Astor 
Library,  226  ;  wishes  J.  G.  C.  to  be- 
come his  Secretary  of  Legation  to 
Spain,  227  ;  letter  to  from  G.  Ticknor, 
228  n. ;  letter  from,  229  n. ;  mentioned, 
230,  231,  266,  277,  and  note  ;  death, 
279. 

Italian  studies,  40,  61. 

Italy,  visits,  9,  72-78,  208-210,  256; 
charm  of,  30S. 

Ives,  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  183 ; 
founds  school  in  Raleigh,  1S7  n. 

Jackson,  Gen.,  President  of  the  United 
States,  162,  166,  1S2. 

Jagermann,  portrait  painter,  64. 

Jamieson,  Prof.   Robert,  91. 

Jardine,  Mr.,  head  of  Edinburgh  Obser- 
vatory, 94. 

Jardin  des  Plantes,  120. 

Jasmund,  Frau  von,  97. 

Jefferson  College,  Louisiana  :  presidency 
offered  to  J.  G.  C,  204  ;  again,  217  n. 

Jeffrey,  Francis,  123. 

Jena,  visits,  56,  104,  10S. 


Jerusalem,  Wilhclm  :  character  intro- 
duced in  Goethe's  "  Werther,"  55,  and 
note. 

Jones,  George  Noble,  312. 

Kemble,  Mrs.  F.,  56  n. 
Kestncr,  Mad.,  55,  and  note. 
Killarney,  Lakes  of,  2S2. 
King,  Mr.,  2S0. 
Kiptschak  Tartars,  171. 
Kirkland,   J.   T.,   President  of  Harvard 
College,  29,  135,  170. 

La  Harpe,  General,  116. 

Lamartine,  A.  de,  208. 

Lausanne,  S2,  85,  114,  116. 

Lautard,  Dr.,  president  of  academy  at 
Marseilles,  42. 

Law,  studies,  6,  7,  11  ;  practices,  15-20  ; 
business  for  Mr.  Gray,  38. 

Lectures  by  J.  G.  C.  at  Stuyvesant  Insti- 
tute, 213  n. 

Legare,  Hugh  S.,  227,  232  n. 

Legh,  Wiltshire,  England  :  Cogswell  fam- 
ily emigrate  from,  2  n. 

Leghorn,  208. 

Leipzig,  103,  106,  108. 

Lerchenfeld  von,  Minister  of  Finance  in  . 
Bavaria,  114. 

Library  of  Gottingen  University,  67,  and 
note. 

Liguier  et  Dossue,  46. 

"  Literary  World,"  letter  from  J.  G.  C. 
printed  in,  244-251. 

Liverpool,  122. 

Livingston,  Lewis,  295  n.,  310  n. 

Livingston,  Mrs.  Lewis,  272,  2S2,  295  n., 
310;  letters  to,  270,  307,  32S,  340, 
342. 

Llangollen,  ladies  of,  124. 

London,  11,  89,  127,  223,  242,  254,  261, 
263,  2S2,  284. 

London  book  auctions,  245. 

Longfellow,  H.  W.,  341. 

Lord,  Daniel,  Trustee  of  Astor  Library, 

3"3- 
Lossing,  B.  J.,  63  n. 


INDEX. 


375 


Lowell,  Rev.  R.  T.  S.,  323,  and  note,  32s, 

and  note. 
Lucca,  255. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles  and  Lady,  262. 
Lyman,  Joseph,  359. 

McDuffie,  Governor,  of  South  Carolina, 

194  n.,  196. 
McKean,  Dr.,  of  Ipswich,  51,  52. 
Mailliard,  Mr.  A.,   291  n.,  317,  319,  and 

note,  331. 
Mailliard,  Mrs.   A.,  266  n.,   268,   291  n., 

317,  319,  and  note;  letters  to,  290,  305, 

313,314,325.327.341- 
Mailliard,  John  Ward,  letter  to,  329. 
Markoe,   Dr.   T.,  Trustee   of  Astor   Li- 
brary, 363,  364. 
Marseilles,  8,  9,  37-47. 
Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  190. 
Massachusetts'  course  in  the  War  of  the 

Rebellion,  287. 
Mathematics,  value  of  study  of,  351,  352. 
Mather,  Cotton,  90. 
Matlock  Bath,  136  n. 
Mediterranean,  voyages  to,  7,  37. 
Memory  in  old  age,  330. 
Menotomites,  5. 

Mercantile  pursuits,  6,  7,  40,  46. 
Meredith,  Mr.  W.  and  family,  34. 
Milman,  H.  H.,  243. 
Mineralogy,  love  for,  73,  77. 
Missouri,  desire  to  explore,  235. 
Monroe,    J.,    President    of   the    United 

States,  130  ;  doctrine,  298. 
Morse,  B.  E.,  359. 
Morse,  J.  T.,  359. 
Morse,  S.  T.,  359. 
Motley,  J.   Lothrop,   325   n.  ;   letter  to 

J.  G.  C,  302. 
Moulins,  117. 
Munich,   65,   6S-71,   109-114;  Academy 

of  Arts  and  Sciences,  J  .G.  C.  member 

of,  112,  and  note. 

Nahant,  340. 

Natural   history,  sympathy  among  lovers 

of,  116. 
Naples,  9,  io,  209,  210. 


Napoleon  I.,  335. 

Napoleon  III.,  334. 

Newbern,  N.  C,  186. 

New  England  scenery,  291. 

New  England,  care  of  poor  in,  70,  and 

note. 
Newport,  216,  267,  317,  327  n.,  340. 
Newstead  Abbey,  123. 
New  York,  visits,  35,  49,  162,  186,  195, 

205  ;    life   in,  206,  213-297 ;    changes, 

213  n.  ;  riots,   293,    294;    visits,   312, 

3*3.  3!7i  3".  322,  338. 
"  New  York  Review,"  writes  for,  215,  and 

note  ;   purchases   interest  in  and  ^con- 

ducts,  217  n.  ;  views  about,  218. 
"  New    York  Evening   Post,"    letter  to, 

277  m 
Niagara,  132,  133. 
Nichols,  Rev.  J.,  31. 
Nichols,  Mrs.,  letter  to,  68. 
Northampton,  Mass.,   135,  136,  153,   156, 

194  n.,  195,  206,  213  n.,  215,  235,  237  ; 

leading  men  of  draw  up  paper  in  favor 

of  Round  Hill  School,  177. 
Northampton,  England,  249. 
Nymphenburg,  112,  114. 

Oken,  Professor,  1 10,  and  note. 

Padua,  72. 

Pahlen,  Count,  no,  III. 

Paris,  visits,  87,  89,   119,  120,  121,207, 

208,  223,  251,  255,  282;  always  sad, 

89,  122,  252. 
Parker,  Rev.  N.,  35. 
Pedestrianism,  33,  79,  84,  85,  86,  87. 
Peel,  Sir  Robert,  236,  and  note. 
Pell,    Mr.    and    Mrs.   Alfred,   323,   325, 

3^7- 
Pellwood.      See  West  Point. 
Pennsylvania  University,  194  n. 
Perkins,  Edward  N.,  298. 
Perkins,  Samuel  G.,  35,  52  n. 
Perkins,  Stephen  H.,  52  and  note. 
Perth,  126. 
Pestalozzi,   school   at   Yverdun,  81,  and 

note,  115. 
Philadelphia,  visits,  34,  49,  128,  129,  1S6, 


376 


INDEX. 


202,  266,  269,  320,  322 ;  proposals 
from,  194. 

Phillips  Academy,  Exeter,  2,  5  ;  system 
of,  155- 

Physical  education,  value  of,  352. 

Tierce,  Prof.  Benjamin,  300,  359. 

Pinkney,  William,  130. 

Playfair,  94. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  visits,  321. 

Portland,  visits,  13,  28,  29,  48  n.  131,  213 
n.,  233,  276. 

Portsmouth,  131. 

Posse,  Count  and  Countess,  76  n.,  101  n. 

Powers,  Hiram,  256,  257. 

Prague,  108. 

Prescott,  Judge,  7,  13,  and  note,  38,  142, 
190. 

Prescott,  Mrs.,  7  n.,  13,  33,  142,  149  ;  let- 
ters to,  first,  43  ;  last,  218  ;  letter  from 
G.  Ticknor,  73. 

Prescott,  W.  H.,  33  n.,  38,  142,  and  note, 
190,  227,  242  n.,  251  ;  letter  to,  72. 

Prescott,  Mrs.  W.  H.,  142,  and  note,  149, 
190. 

Prescott,  Miss.  See  Dexter,  Mrs.  Frank- 
lin. 

Prossedi,  Princess,  76  n.,  267. 

Prussia,  Frederic  William  III.,  103,  224; 
Frederic  William  IV.,  224. 

Queenstown,  284. 

Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  1S1,  183,  184,  187 
-204;  J.  G.  C.  head  of  school  in,  187, 
etc. 

Raphael,  210. 

Retzch,  Moritz,  picture  of  death,  329. 

Rhine,  visits,  50. 

Rhinebeck,  295,  310,  323. 

Robeson,  W.  R.,  359. 

Rogers,  Samuel,  243,  and  note,  254. 

Romaic  studies,  40. 

Rome,  visits,  9,  6S-7S,  20S,  255,  257. 

Rose,  Mr.,  British  Minister  at  Berlin  and 
Washington,  59,  and  note. 

Round  Hill  School,  134-  185  ;  first  pu- 
pils, 137,  140,  141  ;  beauty  of  the  spot, 
136,   139  ;  article  on,  by  T.  G.  Apple- 


ton,  138  n.,  150  n.  ;  plan  of  instruction, 
143,  and  note,  349  ;  health  at,  156  ; 
act  of  incorporation,  163,  and  note ; 
J.  G.  C.  leaves,  184 ;  visits,  215,  237  ; 
sale  of,  238  n.  ;  list  of  pupils,  353  ; 
Round  Hill  festival,  299,  and  note,  359  ; 
feeling  of  pupils,  302,  303,  347  ;  meet- 
ing of  pupils  after  Mr.  C.'s  death,  347  ; 
pupils  put  up  a  monument  to  Mr.  C. 
and  give  his  bust  to  Harvard  College, 
347.  348- 

Ruggles,  Samuel  B.,  Trustee  of  Astor 
Library,  363,  364,  365,  366,  367. 

Rumford,  Count,  71. 

Saalfeld,  Professor  of  history  at  Gottin- 

gen,  60. 
Safe   conduct   from  British  government, 

811. 
Sartorius,  Prof.,  54,  97. 
Savannah,  167,  177,  and  note,  312. 
Savigny,  De,  Prussian  Chancellor,  59. 
Scandinavia,  25S. 
Schilling,  Baron,  ill. 
Schlichtegroll,    A.  H.  F.,    109,   no,  in, 

112. 
Schrader,  Professor  of  botany  at  Gottin- 

gen,  60,  61,  62. 
Schroeder,  Francis,  64  n.,  258,  and  note, 

288,  and  note,  338,  339  n. 
Science,  natural,  studies,  54. 
Scotland,  90,  91,  92,  125,  126. 
Scott,  Walter,  14,  91,  95,  96,  296. 
Secession,  287. 

Shattuck,  Dr.  G.  C,  298,  359. 
Shaw,  S.  Parkman,  359. 
Shurtleff,  N.  B.,  359. 
Slavery,  effects  of,  192,  193,  203. 
Sbmmering,  Dr.,  anatomist,  chemist,  etc., 

69. 
Solly,   Edward,  59,  and  note. 
Southey,  Robert,  89. 
Spanish  studies,  40,  42. 
Spurzheim,  180. 

Stowe  Library,  sale  of,  245-247. 
Swett,  Samuel  B.,  359. 
Switzerland,   visits,    79-87,    114;    enjoy- 
ment of,  210. 


INDEX. 


377 


Talma,  121. 

Texas,  annexation  of,  234. 

Thacher,  Rev.  S.  C,  117,  and  note. 

Thiersch,  Professor,  no- 

Thorndike,  Israel,  13,  and  note,  38,  461 
48,  93,  121,  130,  132. 

Thorndike,  Israel,  Jr.,  13,  177. 

Thorndike,  Charles,  177. 

Thorndike,  Augustus,  4S,  52,  61,  64,  73, 
93,  9S,  102,  and  note,  117,  n8,  121, 122, 
177. 

Thorndike,  Oliver,  121,  125. 

Thorwaldsen,  259. 

Ticknor,  Elisha,  father  of  George  T.,  let- 
ters to,  70,  80,  87,  95. 

Ticknor,  Mrs.  Elisha,  32  ;  letter  from  G. 
Ticknor,  52  ;  letter  from  J.  G.  C.,  62. 

Ticknor,  George  :  letters  from,  to  C.  S. 
Daveis,  8,  25,  35  ;  to  Mrs.  E.  Ticknor, 
52  ;  to  Mrs.  Prescott,  73  ;  to  S.  A. 
Eliot,  133,  135,  136 ;  to  D.  Webster, 
227  n. ;  to  W.  Irving,  228  n. ;  tribute  to 
J.  G.  C.  in  "  Life  of  Prescott,"  242  n. ; 
letters  to,  first,  33  ;  last,  323  ;  men- 
tioned, 48,  and  note,  50,  51,  119  n.,  301, 
325  n.,  328  ;  death  and  funeral,  337. 

Ticknor,  Mrs.  George,  142  ;  letters  to, 
first,  142  ;  last,  330. 

Toplitz,  102,  103. 

Tours  en  Touraine,  116,  118. 

Tuckerman,  H.  T.,  345. 

Twickenham,  262. 

Upjohn,  226. 


Vaughan,  J.,  129. 
Venice,  72. 


Vienna,  283. 

Wadsworth,  James,  132. 

Wales,  G.  W.,  302,  303,  340,  359. 

Wallis,  Mr.,  94. 

Walsh,  Robert,  128,  and  note,  203. 

Ward,  Miss  Julia,  letter  to,  208. 

Ward,  Samuel,  177,  190  n.,  194  n.,  202, 
204  n.,  206  n.,  213,  and  note,  215  ; 
J.  G.  C.  lives  in  his  house,  206,  213- 
221  ;  letter  to  stockholders  of  Round 
Hill,  177;  letters  to,  165  n.,  174,  178 
n.,  1S4,  1S5  n.,  190  n.,  204;  death  of, 
222. 

Ward,  Samuel  G.,  359. 

Warden,  David  Eaillie,  106,  and  note. 

Washington,  visits,  129,  166,  205,  236. 

Webster,  Daniel,  227  n.  ;  death  of, 
261. 

Weimar,  55,  56,  58,  64,  97,  104,  107. 

Weimar,  Grand  Duke  of,  107. 

Weimar,  Duke  Bernard  of,  159  n. 

Welcker,  Professor,  at  Gottingen,  54,  60. 

Werther,  Goethe's  Romance,  55,  and 
note. 

West  Point,  Pellwood  near,  317,  323, 
325.  327  "• 

Whewell,  Dr.,  255. 

Wilson,  James  Grant,  5  n. 

Wilson,  John,  295,  296. 

Windham  frogs,  63,  and  note. 

Wolf,  T.  A.  philologist  and  lexicogra- 
pher, 5S. 

Yale  College,  16S. 

Zurich,  S2. 


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